Of Love and Hate
by DreamCrafter
Summary: Darkness looms over the world of Pokemon. An unspeakable evil. A wrath that cannot be calmed. But amidst all the darkness, there is light. Hope, in the form of a prophecy. Will this prophecy be fufilled? As Ash Ketchum and Dawn Berlitz venture through the darkness, feelings arise: Feelings of love, Feelings of Hate.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 – Memories

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon**

**This fanfiction is set around three or four years after the events of 'Memories are made of Bliss (DP191)'. At the start of this fanfic:**

**Ash – 17**

**Brock – 23**

**Dawn – 16**

**Gary - 17**

**Misty & May - 17**

**Enjoy!**

**Prologue**

An aged man stumbled blindly into the heart of the temple. He had short, spiky white hair and grey eyes. An ugly scar ran down the left side of his face, a memory of a discarded foe. After his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he gave a shout of glee. Finally, after all these years, he had found what he was looking for. It was an aged statue of the pokemon Arceus, with a plaque below it. Slowly, the mysterious bent down and brushed the dust of the prophecy of the Pokemon universe, created thousands of years ago by the alpha Pokmon, was imprinted on the plaque before his very eyes, as he began reading it, memorising every finite detail.

_When every life meets another, something new is born._

_The two that are one, the one that is all._

_One of emotion, one of will._

_When will is distorted, emotion remains pure._

_There comes a time when the segments are taken,_

_Then the Darkness will step out of the shadows,_

_And the light shall push back the darkness._

_For the two that are one, the one that is all._

The man pulled out his Xtransiever. "Commander Stone, this is Murkspawn. I have the info. Prepare for stage 1."

"Yes sir, right away," The voice said and hung up.

Murkspawn rubbed his hands in glee. "Soon." He said. "Soon."

**~0~**

**Pallet Town, Kanto Region**

Ash Ketchum woke up to the familiar surroundings of his old room in Pallet Town. Ash spent the time looking around the room, to find that there were still the old pokemon posters on the walls of his room. It really had not changed that much since he started his adventure 7 years ago.

**Ash POV**

I sighed and lied on my bed, trying not to awaken Pikachu who was still fast asleep. I couldn't help but think of my recent loss in the Unova League. This time, I managed to get into the finals, where I faced Trip and managed to loose …again. I couldn't help but feel a bit down. Every time it was the same. I would get so close, only to have it all snatched away from me.

I sighed as I closed my eyes. It's been 3 long years since I had left for the Unova Region, and I was finally back. This is where it all started, and I couldn't help as memories of various people came flooding in…

The first of which was meeting Misty Waterflour, who was now the gym leader of the Cerulean Gym which specifies in water pokemon. I myself don't fancy being a gym leader, for it meant mainly working with one type of pokemon and I liked to work with a variety.

Misty was a stubborn tomboy, and the youngest of four sisters who live in the Cerulean Gym. I chuckled as he remembered her fear of bugs and the way she followed me around Kanto demanding that I replaced her bicycle that Pikachu broke, I mean it wasn't really my fault. Misty can be nice at times, but I remember her mostly of how easily she can be angered, crazy, or frustrated, and how loud and violent she can become in response, which I had more than a fair share of in my time with her.

Misty and I parted ways after she decided to take on the responsibilities as gym leader after she realised that if not, the gym would have to be shut down, but I was sad nevertheless as she was my first companion. People have said how Misty and I would be a great couple, but for me, she was just a good friend.

Next there was May Maple, from Petalburg City, or the 'Princess of Hoenn'. I recall how she had a certain fondness of food, especially noodles. She was a nice, nicer than Misty that is. She would sometimes have her 'moments' – especially when her food was deprived from her. We parted ways when I went to Sinnoh to participate in the Sinnoh League, while she decided to enter contests in Johto with Drew, who now was together. Well, they've been an item for a year now and I still don't get what May sees in him. When May left, of course I was crushed, but not because I loved her, well to be honest I did, but I loved her as a sister.

Then there was…Dawn Berlitz. Just thinking about her gives me knots in my stomach. I don't know why, but since we parted all those years ago, there hasn't been a second that I haven't thought of her. I missed the times when I would travel with her and Brock, and the adventures we had together. The way I would cheer her on in contests and in turn she would give me her support throughout gym battles. To be honest – I don't think that I would have even made it to the Sinnoh League without her there cheering for me all the way. Just imagining her in that cute cheerleader outfit bought warmth into my heart. After we parted ways, it wasn't long before I realised how much I actually missed her. From her bright bubbly smile and her sparkling sapphire blue eyes to the way she talks and the way she walks. I missed everything about her.

Unlike other girls I had travelled with, she took pride in her appearance, and wouldn't let anyone see her until she was perfect, just the way I liked her. We did have our arguments, but it was so much more infrequent then with Misty or May, and we would make up after a few minutes anyway since it pained me to argue with such a sweet girl.

Of course she was doing great. After I came back to Sinnoh after finishing in the top four of the Sinnoh League, she travelled to Hoenn where she won the Grand Festival beating none other than May. I heard that since they had been meeting a lot, they had become the best of friends. After winning the Hoenn Grand Festival, she went back to Sinnoh and won the Grand Festival there as well.

I couldn't wait to see Dawn again! Well, it wouldn't be long now, as I invited my old friends to Pallet Town for the annual Pallet Town Festival, but unfortunately Misty has been busy lately with challengers at the gym and couldn't make it, but May and Dawn should be arriving tomorrow.

As I finally got out of bed, I found that Pikachu was already awake and hopped onto my shoulder.

"Pika!"

"Hey buddy, you sleep well?"

"Pika, pikaka." It said sheepishly while rubbing its head.

I smiled and looked at my companion, "excited about seeing Dawn again too, eh?" To which the little rodent nodded its head vigorously. During our time in Sinnoh, Pikachu had become more attached to Dawn than any other of my companions, which I still couldn't put my finger on. He saw the bluenette as a sort of second trainer to me and loved her as much as any of her own pokemon.

"Morning dear!" came a voice from down the corridor, something I haven't heard since last year. I grinned and ran down the stairs and out of the door while shouting "Morning mum! Just going to check on my pokemon!"

**Normal POV**

"Are you having breakfast dear?" Delia asked as she saw a blob of colour flash in front of her before the front door slammed closed. Ash was off saying something about checking on his pokemon in Oaks Ranch.

Delia shook her head in an amused fashion, "No matter how old Ash is, he still has a mental age of a 10 year old."

A few hours later we find our hero walking back to his house in Pallet Town, the day of meeting his pokemon taking the toll on his now empty stomach. He was planning on how to tell Dawn his feelings. Dawn shouldn't be here until in two or three days' time, so he plans to head to the market tomorrow and buy her something that would tell her about his feelings. Two or three days should be plenty of time for Ash to gather his nerves and confess. As Ash got closer to home, he smelled his mother's cooking and ran over to the dinner table and immediately tucked into the dinner placed for him on the table.

"So Ash dear, how are your pokemon doing?"

"Great thanks mum," Ash said with a mouthful of food.

"Oh yes and by the way, Dawn will be here in a few hours."

**Woo first chapter finished! :D Wow this is the first chapter of my first fanfiction, hope you enjoyed! Sorry about the lack of action in this chapter, I just had to set the scene, the next chapter would be more action filled – promise! The next chapter should be ready in at the most a month's time, so stay tuned!**

**Please Comment and Review!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 – Transparency

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon**

**I would like to thank the people that reviewed my last chapter, it helps give me feedback and speeds up the upload time, so please review!**

**Without further ado, let's get straight in to the next chapter: D**

'_Oh yes and by the way, Dawn will be here in a few hours.'_

These words raced around Ash's head as he bolted down Route 1 with his Pikachu clinging onto his shoulders for dear life. He was headed to Viridian City, the closest location with a department store. He needed to find the perfect present for his perfect girl, but time was running short. Little did our hero know, there were a few surprises around the corner…

**Ash POV**

Running, running, running. That is all I ever seem to do when it comes to feelings about Dawn. I always try to deny them, try to hide them, try to run away from the truth. When it comes to saving the world, I would always stand and face it, no matter the odds and no matter the calamity and chaos that was in front of me.

This time it was different. Me, Ash Ketchum, was finally backing down.

I sighed. My legs had begun tire from all the running. Reluctantly, I slowed down into a fast walk and allowed Pikachu into a more comfortable position on my shoulder. A sign to my right indicated that Viridian City was just around the corner, I should be there in no time.

So what did Dawn like? I scanned all the stores until I arrived outside a jewellery shop and decided to enter. I was dumbfounded by the sheer amount of jewellery in the shop.

"Can I help you?" a voice called out, breaking my trail of thought.

"I-uh, it's okay, just looking for something," I replied back, not willing to tell her what I was trying to look for.

"I think this one will be great,"she whispered, and winked at me. I looked up, and I knew that Dawn would absolutely love it. It was a gold bracelet with sapphires dotted all around it, and a pearl in the centre. The sapphires matched her beautiful shining blue eyes and the pearl represented the radiant glow coming off her.

"Thanks, but how did you know?" I asked, confused.

"Well I've been working here a while, and I know that look when I see one." She said, and gave me another wink.

I blinked. Was I really that transparent? I guess I was, I've never been in love before.

"Do you want this engraved?" the lady said returning to her normal voice.

"Uh, sure, thanks!"

Five minutes later, the lady handed me a small case with the engraved bracelet in it. As I waved goodbye and walked out of the shop, I heard her say "She's a very lucky girl to have you." And I pulled my cap down so nobody could see me blushing as I walked past people sniggering at what the woman just said.

I spent some more time in Viridian City buying gifts for the other guests that were coming to Pallet Town. Scarves and accessories for the girls, and caps for the guys. After I felt that I had adequate presents for everyone, I made my trek back home.

Now to think of the perfect way to confess to Dawn. I had kicked myself for not telling her in Sinnoh or when we saw her again in Unova. Me loving her has been eating away at me for over 5 years. Should I tell her in private or in front of everybody? Should I ask her to go to somewhere romantic before I tell her? Should I write her a note? No…wait or maybe I could just kiss her and then she will know for sure. Ugh, I have no clue what to do.

"Pikapi?" Pikachu asked me, sensing my unease.

"Don't worry Pikachu, its nothing, I was just thinking again about…"

"Pikaka?" Pikachu finished the sentence for me.

"You know Pikachu, I wonder what she looks like now." I said as I began to think. The last time I saw her on TV was almost half a year ago when she was wearing one of her contest dresses. I almost couldn't wait to see her again.

Suddenly, I heard a bush rustling to my left. I froze. As rustling came nearer and nearer, Pikachu dropped from my shoulders in a battle stance. Suddenly, a robotic arm came out of nowhere and grabbed my Pikachu. As the object slowly rose from the bushes, a glint of moonlight shone off the front of the machine revealing a red 'R' painted on. I rolled my eyes. I didn't have time for this right now.

"Okay, Team Rocket, I don't have time for you right now, I'm in a hurry. So can you just give me my Pikachu back?" I pleaded. The last thing I want to do is waste the little time I have left on these lame excuses of villains.

"No chance twerp, we won't give up without a fight!" the annoyingly familiar voice of Meowth shouted through the speakers.

This was the last thing I needed, so I better make it quick. I went to grab Infernape's pokeball when I froze as my hand grabbed thin air. Strange. I swear that's where I normally keep his pokeball. I realised in horror as I went to grab another pokeball from my belt – there weren't any there!

"Aww, is the little twerp having trouble?" A sneering male voice came from the metallic ball.

"'No… I uh" I tried to think of something brave to say, "I just seemed to have left…" Suddenly it hit me. I had left all my pokemon with Professor Oak for safe keeping for I figured I only needed Pikachu to keep me company. Geez, great 'figuring' Ash.

"Time's up twerp! Time to see how you feel blasting off!" The voice of Meowth came booming. As a fist came towards me, I braced myself for the impact…

"Sudowoodo, use double edge!" A familiar voice came from behind that made me smile. In a flash, I saw a log-shaped pokemon ram into the side of the arm, knocking it out of harm's way.

"Now Sudowoodo, use stone edge!" the voice came again.

"Sudowoodo!" the Pokemon agreed and launched the powerful attack Team Rocket. Once again, I saw them blasting off into the distance. Do they ever get bored of that?

"Pika!" my best friend shouted and ran over to me. Boy was I glad that he was safe.

"Hey buddy. Great to see you're safe!" I said as I hugged him.

"Ash! You alright?" a squinty-eyed man said as he came out of the shadows offered me a hand.

"Great, thanks Brocko, it's great to see you again!" I grinned. "I haven't spoken to you for…"

"Over four years," Brock said, smiling, "And you are still the reckless trainer I knew back then."

"Hey!" I said sheepishly. "At least I don't go around hitting on girls!" I said in response.

"Nor do I!" Brock replied. I was shocked. Brock noticed this and gave a light chuckle, "You see Ash, I met a female breeder a year ago and we started dating six months ago. As I said before, don't give up until you've found true love!"

"Wow," I said in response, "I can't believe that you actually got somebody." I grinned. "Good for you Brocko!"

"So how about you Ash?"

I groaned. This is the question I had known would come up sooner or later.

"What do you mean what about me?" I decided to pretend to not know what he was talking about.

"Come on Ash, I know you. You're not that dense.' Dangit, busted. "So," Brock continued, "You must be hiding something, right?"

"I…err…am not." Wow great job, Ash, very convincing. Sometimes I wish he wasn't so smart all the time.

"What's the matter? Not willing to talk eh? So you DO have somebody!" Brock grinned. "So Ash, who is this lucky girl you're dating?"

"Well… you see, it's not I date… more like a…"

"Crush?" He finished the sentence for me.

"Yeah."

"Who is this? Don't tell me it's Misty." Brock asked. Strange, he's not normally this nosey.

"No, I told you before, she's just a friend."

"May?"

"Nope. She's like my younger sister."

"Gary?"

"What the, of course not!" Did he really think I was into men?

"Okay just checking." He said grinning, before carrying on, "Iris?"

"Nope." Can't he drop it already?

"Dawn?"

"Ye-I mean NO!" I blushed. I saw Brock smile as he knew what I was going to say. The squinty-eyed breeder mumbled something that sounded like '_thought so'_. There was a moment of silence, before it was broken by more rustling in the bushes. Fearing the worst, Pikachu jumped from my shoulders and in front of me in a battle stance, with sparks flying from his cheeks as Brock called out Sudowoodo again.

As the rustling got louder and more violent, we braced ourselves for what was to come…

"Ashy boy?"

**2nd****Chapter done and dusted! As for the frequency that I will be uploading the chapters, I said a MAXIMUM of 1 month, I should upload around every 2 weeks.**

**I'll see you all next time!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 – Reunion

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon**

**NOTE: What legendary Pokemon should I include in this fanfiction (it will be under the possession of a trainer, so it can't upset the balance or whatever). Please help me come up with some ideas and either message me or tell me in a review. Thanks!**

**Now to where we left off…**

"Ashy boy?" A familiar voice said. Ash groaned, there was only one person that called him that.

A boy around the same age as Ash stepped out onto the road. He had dark brown hair, black eyes and bore a slight resemblance to Professor Oak. He was wearing a black polo shirt and brown – ish jeans. He was Gary Oak, Ash's childhood friend and rival.

"Hey Gary, this is a pleasant surprise." Brock said as he shook Gary's hand.

"Humph, more like unpleasant." Ash muttered under his breath before facing Gary. "Why are you here?" He demanded.

"We set up camp back there," Gary pointed at the direction of the forest, "And I was just going to Viridian to get some supplies, the others are exhausted. And then," Gary said smirking, "I heard Ashy talk about a certain someone."

"You didn't!" Ash shouted, face turning red.

"Be quiet Ash, people are staring," Brock said into the messy raven haired trainer's ear. "So Gary, you mentioned 'we'. Who else is there?"

"Well, seeing that I've just come back from Sinnoh, then…"

"May and Drew? They were in Sinnoh right?" Brock asked.

Gary nodded, "Drew and May came to Kanto with me, I think they're headed to Hoenn pretty soon, but also Dawn decided to tag along aswell."

Ash, who was still talking to Pikachu, perked up at the mention of Dawn's name.

"Huh, Dawn, where, where?" Ash asked, perking up at the mere mention of the bluenette's name.

Gary chuckled. "So that's the girl our Ashy is so in love with. I've gotta say Ash, you do have a good taste, she's quite the looker."

Before Ash could do or say something rash, Brock interrupted both of them. "So can we go and see them?" The squinty-eyed breeder questioned. He had not seen either May or Dawn for over 5 years and couldn't wait to see them again.

"Sure, right this way." Gary said as he stepped into the trees, with Ash and Brock close behind him.

**At the Camp**

"Drew Hayden, give me my bandana NOW!" A voice echoed around the forest, startling everything within a one-mile radius.

"Never!" A voice shouted back. It belonged to a teenager with green hair and green eyes who was darting around the camp with an angry brunette chasing after him. The brunette had brown hair and blue eyes and was wearing a red t-shirt with a dark blue circle around her neck, dark-blue shorts, red and yellow sneakers, and dark-blue and white gloves. The bandana that would have rested on her head was now in the green haired teen's hands.

"If you don't give that back right now mister Hayden, somebody is going to be SERIOUSLY hurt!" The brunette shouted again while still failing to catch up to the green haired teen called Drew.

Drew threw back his head and laughed, "Is that all you've got May dearest? Come on, surely somebody that eats like a Munchlax that's been starved for a year has the energy to try harder!"

May, the brunette girl, gritted her teeth before picking up her pace and also her barrage of insults at him.

Meanwhile from the side-line, a girl with her Piplup perched on her lap was watching the 'action'. She had a pair of dazzling blue eyes and midnight blue hair. She was Dawn Berlitz – the 'famous 'coordinator. For her, she just wanted a normal life but her successes at the Grand Festivals she participated in had drawn a lot of attention from the media which she was not very fond of.

Getting bored of the couple's behaviour, she stood up. "Guys, I'm just going for a walk." Dawn said, but nobody paid her any attention. The bluenette sweat dropped as May ran past her with a huge stick raised above her head, like she was trying to swat a huge fly.

After a bit of walking, Dawn and Piplup found their way to a small enclosed area in the forest. Moonlight was shining through a gap in the trees onto the ground Sitting with her back against a tree, she looked up at the starry sky through the small gap in the trees.

"Isn't it beautiful, Piplup?" Dawn asked her companion quietly.

"Lup," The penguin pokemon said in reply as he joined his master beside the tree.

After a while Piplup's soft breathing was heard, meaning that he was asleep. Not taking her eyes off the sky, Dawn gently picked up Piplup and cradled him in her arms like a baby. It was on nights like this when the coordinator liked to gaze at the stars and purge her mind of the stresses of everyday life. She hated how the media always tried to follow her everywhere and how she nearly had no privacy. It's why she liked to travel, it reminded her of the good old days when she was so carefree and was without a worry in the world. It was her time to be lost among the stars.

**Back with Ash**

"How long left Gary? We've been trekking through the forest for over half an hour now." Ash groaned.

The dark brunette boy sighed, "You've asked me that 5 times in the last minute! I told you, we're close."

As if to prove his point, a shout was heard from not far away.

"Drew Hayden, give me that back NOW you grasshead!"

Ash smiled at this voice. It was the all familiar voice of May Maple. At that moment, a lower voice laughed.

"Come and get me then, May dearest."

That must have been Drew. Ash picked up his pace, breaking out into a run towards the source of the voices.

"Hey, Ash wait up!" Brock shouted, struggling to keep up with the two younger teens.

Soon, the three of them burst out into a clearing where a fuming May had managed to corner Drew in well, a corner. Before any of them could do anything, May bought down the stick which made contact with Drew's head with a CRACK!

"Oww…" Drew said before dropping to the ground, dropping the bandana in his hand, which May then scooped up triumphantly.

"I warned you Drew," She said, before noticing the three people watching them.

May's face suddenly lit up. "Ash! Brock! It's great to see you all again!" She shouted, running towards them.

"You too May." Ash said, shaking the coordinator's hands, before turning around as if trying to find somebody.

"Hey, do any of you know where Dawn is?" The raven haired trainer questioned.

Drew, who was still holding a what seemed bruised part of his face grunted a hello to Brock and Ash before saying, "I think she went for a walk, in that direction." The green-haired boy pointed at a path that led into a deeply wooded area. "Come to think of it… she has been gone for quite a while. I'd better go look for her" He said, before standing up and hissing at the pain his head was giving him.

"Drew, you should rest and let the bruise on your head go down. I'll get you something for it." Brock said, before laying down his backpack and rummaging through it.

Gary tapped Ash on the shoulder, gesturing for him to do something. After a bit of thinking (Ash wasn't the sharpest tool in the toolbox) he realised what the darker brunette had meant.

"Guys, I'm going to go look for Dawn." Ash announced, before running the way Dawn had supposedly went with Pikachu close on his tail.

**Ash POV**

Man, Pikachu and I have been walking through this place for over twenty minutes, and still no sign of Dawn! Where on Arceus could she have gotten to? Even Pikachu was starting to get worried. What if she got lost? What if she got kidnapped? No Ash, you're being stupid. She's perfectly able to take care of herself. What was that she said? No need to worry, right?

_No need to worry._

I sighed. _That's _when I worry the most.

I decided to give up and return to the camp, just hoping that I didn't get lost on the way out here and that Dawn was safely back with the others. As I walked back the way I came, I came across a cross in the path.

"Hmm, which way did we come from, do you remember buddy?" I asked the little yellow rodent sitting on my shoulder.

"Chu…" I sighed. Looks like we were just going to pick one at random. I randomly chose a path and started walking down it. Man, this forest was so confusing! I know I'm a Kanto native, but I swear I've never been this deep in the forest before.

"Yup… definitely lost." I muttered quietly as I heard the sound of a stream near me. I knew there wasn't a stream the way I came, so now I was completely lost. I left all my pokemon at Professor Oak's as well, so I couldn't send a pokemon like Staraptor or Noctowl up to help me.

I decided the best thing for me to do was to follow the stream, at least that should get me somewhere and that was better than nowhere. As I followed the stream, it trickled through some trees into a slightly open space beyond. I decided to take a look at what was there before walking through the trees.

I gasped.

**That was chapter 3 – hope you all enjoyed! The next chapter will be coming shortly.**

**Hey everyone, as you may or may not know, I have completely re-written the story. **

**So what did you guys think? I know right, it's completely different from the old chapter :P I'd really appreciate it if you can drop a review on the new chapter, saying if you prefer this one more or not. Thanks!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 - Magical Moments

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.**

**Hey everyone thanks for all the support, and please leave a review telling me how the rewritten chapters are! Thanks in advance :)**

I couldn't believe my eyes.

Barely 10 meters away from me, the most beautiful sight I have ever witnessed.

She was like an angel… a goddess.

Moonlight shone through a gap in the leaves onto her body, making her skin glow with an ethereal glow and her blue midnight hair making it sparkle.

The midsummer night's gentle breeze blew through her hair, making it sway gently in the wind.

She was perfection. Sitting there, so calm, so collected, so…peaceful.

Her eyes reflected the many stars in the starry night, sparkling every so often. It looked like she was in some sort of trance, in another world just staring up in the sky. On her lap, lay a small blue pokemon that resembled a penguin. He was like his trainer, gazing up into the vast sky and all the stars that lay on it. The pokemon squirmed with pleasure every so often when her soft fingers stroked him gently.

Oh how I _longed_ to feel that touch every day… how I longed _her_ every day…

After what seemed like an eternity went by, the moonlight slowly faded from the little gap in the leaves, moving elsewhere. The girl, coming back into reality, sat up from her position leaning against the tree and yawned.

"Wow, it sure is getting late, why don't we head back Piplup?" She said, her voice sounding tired, yet still soft and gentle as I remember. She stood up, cuddling to her Pokemon ever more and started walking towards where I was.

Wait, she was coming this way?!

As quickly and quietly as I could, I dived out of the way, just in time too. I saw the bluenette hurry ahead and I decided to follow her.

"Pika, Pikaka chu?" My companion questioned smugly. As I couldn't really understand Pikachu apart from a few simple phrases like people's names, it took me a while to work out what he said. When I did, I felt the heat rise to my face.

"What, no come on Pikachu! Not in that way!" I said angrily, "I don't know the way back, so I might as well follow Dawn!" I couldn't believe he thought of me as a pervert!

The yellow rodent folded his arms and said still smug "Chu," which I was pretty sure was a sarcastic way of saying "Sure, I believe you."

At first, following Dawn without detection was pretty simple; all I had to do was keep a tiny bit behind her and move quietly so she doesn't expect anything. But then, things got harder. The paths were less and less obvious and becoming more and more jagged, meaning I couldn't really see Dawn that well without the danger of getting caught.

"Just my luck." I muttered as I was sure I had lost Dawn. I took a look at my surroundings, and I noticed a river nearby. I ran over to the river as I noticed a few bubbles coming out of the water. As I leant my head over, a flash of red came straight at me.

_SLAP!_

Both Pikachu and I sweat dropped as a Magikarp flapped about uselessly on the ground. I sighed as I kicked the Magikarp back in the water and started walking back when I heard a growl emanating from the river.

Before I knew it, a hyper beam struck Pikachu full on.

"Pika!" He said in shock before fainting mere seconds later. I turned around to be greeted by a particularly angry Gyrados eyeing me up. I assumed that it had just evolved from that Magikarp I kicked in. As it shot a powerful Dragon Rage at me, I managed to dodge just in time, but stumbled and fell flat on my back.

I watched helplessly as the Gyrados began to charge another hyper beam, this one targeted at me. I realised how screwed I was. Pikachu had fainted and all my other Pokemon weren't with me. Oh well, I guess this is the end. Looks like I would never be able to tell Dawn my feelings after all…

"Piplup, use Bubblebeam!" I grinned as I recognised the voice. Only one person could have such a sweet voice…

Just as the wild Gyrados finished charging the Hyper Beam, it was struck in the face by a rather nasty Bubblebeam attack, knocking the hyper beam off-course and onto the grass, producing a load of smoke and dust.

As the dust disappeared, I found the wild Gyrados still facing my direction, but it's attention wasn't on me, but a certain bluenette standing in front of me, with her Piplup in a battle stance.

"Dawn…" I began, but I was cut off when she turned around to look at me.

"Don't thank me yet." She said, giving me a wink and one of her cheeky smiles that made me blush deeply, but Dawn didn't seem to notice as her attention was turned back to the battle with the wild Gyrados.

As Gyrados lunged towards Piplup with its tail covered with a spiral of water.

"Quick, Piplup dodge and hit it with an Ice Beam!"

The Penguin Pokemon obeyed, dodging with a graceful spin before firing a potent Ice Beam at the Atrocious Pokemon, causing it to howl in pain.

A purple flame began gathering in Gyrados's mouth, which I recognised to be Dragon Rage.

"Alright Piplup, let's finish this off with a Hydro Pump!"

As the Dragon rage met the Hydro Pump straight on, the victor was fairly obvious. The hydro pump pushed the Dragon Rage back on contact, slamming right into the wild Gyrados's face. Gyrados, knowing who's boss, hastily retreated back into the river.

**Normal POV**

"Alright Piplup, we did it!" Dawn said, hugging her Pokemon.

"Lup!" the blue penguin said happily.

With Piplup in her arms, she turned towards Ash, who grinned sheepishly.

"Hey," The bluenette said shyly, but received no reply.

Ash was staring at Dawn in a trance. Earlier in the forest, he didn't get a good look at her. Nothing much had changed about her, apart from the fact she had a well-developed body. She still wore a black minidress with a white undershirt inside a V-shaped neck with a short pink skirt, which now hugged her figure, showing it off well. On her head, she still wore a white beanie with a pink Poké Ball print on it and gold hair clips that hold up her hair in front. On her feet, she wore pink knee-high boots with black socks underneath that reached her lower thighs.

"Well… this wasn't how I expected to meet you again." The raven haired trainer said with a goofy grin on his face, finally snapping out of his trance.

"You can say that again." Dawn giggled, before becoming serious. "Are you alright Ash? You really had me scared for a second."

"Yeah, I'm fine no need to worry!" Ash said, stealing her catchphrase, before taking a side glance at Pikachu who he had picked up. "Not sure about Pikachu here though."

"Hey, as you just said, no need to worry!" Dawn said, giving Ash one of her beautiful smiles, before pulling out a pokeball.

"Come on out!" She said, throwing the pokeball up into the air.

A huge yet graceful pokemon appeared out of the Pokeball, that surprised Ash.

"Milotic!" The tender Pokemon said.

"Wow, Dawn, great job! You've got a Milotic!" Ash said, proud of the bluenette.

"Thanks Ash, I raised this one all the way from a feebas, isn't that right?" Dawn said, while stroking Milotic's long body. The Pokemon responded with a nod before rubbing its head against Dawn's body, which made Dawn giggle.

"S-stop it Milotic, you know I'm really ticklish!" The coordinator said in-between giggles, to which Milotic responded by doing it faster.

Watching the bond between trainer and pokemon bought warmth to his heart, but Ash interrupted it, "So how is Milotic going to help Pikachu?" He questioned.

Dawn turned around and smiled while rubbing the back of her head. "Oh yeah, sorry about that Ash." Before the raven haired trainer could reply, the bluenette turned back to her Milotic.

"Milotic, use Aqua Ring on Pikachu."

Water droplets began to form around Milotic's body, and they combined together to create three rings of water that surrounded Milotic's body, making it look ever more graceful than before. The rings then gathered as a big hollow ball of water at the tip Milotic's nose, which it then blew gently.

The sparkling ball of water found its way to Pikachu, where it split back into three rings of water. The rings slowly sank into the yellow rodent's skin, making him glow. After the glow had fainted, Pikachu began to stir.

"Pika…" He said, before feeling a hand on his back.

"Hey, it's alright buddy," Ash said softly while stroking his back, "I hope you're feeling better now."

Pikachu nodded slowly before closing its eyes and drifted off to sleep.

"Thank you Milotic, take a nice rest." Dawn said as Milotic got sucked back in to her Pokeball with a beam of red light. Before Ash could react, the bluenette spun around to face him, with her hands on her hips.

"Ash Ketchum, what on Arceus are you doing here?" She demanded.

"I…er not sure actually." The raven haired trainer said. He didn't want to tell her about watching her through the bushes then following her…that'd be just weird.

"Humph. Typical." She said, before turning around and picking up Piplup, "I suppose we better get back to camp, it's getting really late."

The duo walked the long-winded route back to the camp, chatting to each other for company. Laughter ran through the forest, drawing many pokemon inhabiting it closer to the source, only to find two teenagers walking along joking and laughing together. While the two were keeping conversation, Ash inwardly smiled. _This_ is what he missed. The raven haired trainer couldn't think back to a time in the past few years away from the bluenette when he enjoyed himself so much. Was it her constant bright attitude towards things or finally being reunited with her that made him feel like this? Probably a bit of both.

After joking with each other for a while, the two gradually fell silent. Dawn was deep in thought about contests, shopping among many other things while our favourite trainer was trying hard not to stare at the bluenette walking in front of him, but no matter how hard he tried, his mind wouldn't stop, _couldn't_ stop, thinking about her.

"We're here." Dawn said, breaking the silence between the two as she peered into the clearing up ahead.

"Phew, at last." Ash said, drooping his back comically to show he was tired.

"Come on," Dawn said, shoving Ash playfully, "It wasn't THAT long of a walk."

As they walked out into the clearing, they found it suspiciously empty. All of the tents had gone and so had Brock, Gary, Drew and May. After a brief search around, Ash found a note stuck onto the side of a tree.

_Hey Ashy boy,_

_We've been waiting for you for over an hour, but still no signs of either of you. Instead of waiting any longer, Brock has headed back to Pewter City and Drew, May and I have set out to Pallet. Drew and May are going to be staying at yours._

_Smell you later!_

_Gary Oak_

_P.S. Have you made a move yet?_

After reading the note, Ash told Dawn about everything Gary wrote, minus the last bit.

"Pallet Town is ages away, it'll be another hour or two before we get there!" Ash moaned before slumping down to the ground. Pikachu who was still asleep in Ash's arms, turned in his sleep while trying to grasp something.

"Hey, no need to worry," Dawn said, giving Ash another one of her knee-weakening smiles. Dawn threw out another Pokeball and a Togekiss emerged.

"Kiss!" The Jubilee pokemon said, before recognising a familiar face standing next to her master.

"Toge!" She said as she jumped and gave Ash a huge hug.

"Nice to see you too Togekiss," Ash said, smiling. They broke up and Togekiss got down on its belly, which made Ash look at Dawn with a confused expression on his face.

"Well, what are you waiting for, get on Ketchum!" The coordinator said, putting emphasis on the word 'Ketchum'.

"Whatever you say, Deedee." The raven haired trainer said with a smirk as he got ontop of the Pokemon's back.

Dawn puffed out her cheeks in annoyance before perching infront of Ash on Togekiss's back.

_Wow, she looks cuter when she's annoyed! _Ash thought, before going into a daydream. After a while, he shook his head. _No Ash, stop thinking like that, what's wrong with you?_

It was that moment that Ash had realised he was no longer in a forest, but outside his house in Pallet Town.

"Come on mister Daydream, we're here!" Dawn announced. As Ash got off Togekiss, Dawn immediately recalled the Pokemon before joining Ash at the door of his house.

As Gary opened the door, his eyes were scanning the two infront of him. After a while he said, "Ah, about time you two turned up! Come in, quick!"

"Ash, thank god you're back, I was so worried!" Delia said, running into the room, before spotting Dawn.

"Hello, Mrs Ketchum, its nice to meet you." The bluenette said with a smile.

As Ash and Dawn sat at one end of the table, Delia sat at the other and Gary leant on a chair.

"So you're the girl Ash keeps talking about." Delia said, making the bluenette raise a blue eyebrow.

"Muum! I don't talk about her, stop making things up!" Ash moaned.

"Well I've heard you in your sleep." Delia said with a sly smile, making the the raven haired teen blush while Dawn giggled.

Not willing to have any other secrets leaked out by his mother, Ash stood up. "Mum, I'm going to show Dawn her room."

"Oh, one thing," Delia said, "Drew and May are sharing a room and our other one is filled with things Professor Oak told us to look after right now."

"So where's Dawn gonna sleep?" Ash questioned.

"With you."

"WHAT?!"

**That was chapter 3 – hope you all enjoyed! The next chapter will be coming shortly.**

**Thanks again for the reviews; they really help motivate me to write more chapters!**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 – A Surprise and a Half

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon**

**Thanks for the support I've been getting on my first ever fanfic, and I would appreciate it if you keep on supporting me through the rest of this story!**

**Please review and enjoy the chapter!**

"WHAT?!" Both of them shouted.

"Sorry dear, I hope you don't mind." Delia said, not expecting the reaction she got.

"Of course I mind! Why couldn't she sleep with you instead?" Ash demanded.

"What's so bad about me?" Dawn said quietly. Ash turned around and stared at the bluenette, and realised she looked hurt.

"No…Dawn I don't mean it in a bad way," Ash said quickly. "I-I just thought it might be awkward…If you know what I mean."

"Well dear, you'll have to sleep with a girl sooner or later, and it won't get any prettier than Dawn!" Delia said slyly.

"Muuum!" Ash groaned as Dawn blushed a bit.

"Well what are you waiting for Ashy boy? Get upstairs with your girlfriend!" Gary put the emphasis on the word 'girlfriend', causing Dawn to blush again and Ash to give Gary a death glare. "Well," Gary said, "I'll leave you to it, see you soon everyone! I'm going back to gramps to report my findings in the Sinnoh region!"

"Bye Gary!" Everyone said.

**1 hour later**

It was getting late, so everyone went up to their rooms; Delia retired to her bedroom while Ash and Dawn went up into Ash's room.

"Wow," Dawn said as she entered the room. "There are so many posters here!"

"Yeah," Ash agreed, following the bluenette's gaze, "These were back before I started by journey, since then I don't come back often."

Dawn walked over to where Ash kept some of his favourite pictures in a frame. There was one with Misty, one with May, one with Iris and Cilian, a few with Brock. Dawn couldn't help noticing how the rest of them had her in the shot. 'There was a minute's silence, before there was a knock on the door. When Dawn opened it, she was greeted by the sight of Delia dragging in a mattress.

"Mum, what's this for?" Ash questioned.

"Well dear, you said you weren't comfortable sleeping with somebody tonight, so I bought you a mattress to sleep on." Delia replied.

"Mum…no wai-"

"Well, goodnight dear!" Delia quickly said as she slammed the door shut. Pikachu took that as a signal and curled into a ball and started sleeping.

Meanwhile, the two friends up into the night, talking about their adventures and pokemon. Ash told Dawn about the whole array of pokemon that he caught on his journey in Unova, which Dawn seemed to be impressed by. Ash promised also to show the coordinator all the pokemon currently in Prof. Oak's lab too. After a while, both began to get a bit tired and longed for bed.

"I guess we should get ready for bed then Ash." Dawn said, with a huge yawn.

"Wait, Dawn, what about your pokemon?" Ash questioned.

"You'll have to wait until tomorrow, Ketchum." Dawn said and winked at him.

Ash rolled his eyes, but couldn't help the small blush that came to his face. "Fine. Be that way." Before he could say anything else, Dawn made a quick dash for the bathroom.

20 minutes later, she came out dressed in her pyjamas. Dawn was now wearing a pink top with cute looking Slowbro using the move Yawn with the caption underneath in pink curly text 'yawn'. She wore pink shorts with a yellow stripe running down the side of the shorts. Ash, trying not to stare too hard at Dawn, hurried into the bathroom to wash up and get changed. When he walked out, he saw Dawn under the duvet on the mattress.

"Hey Dawn, what are you doing? I was supposed to be sleeping on the mattress." Ash questioned.

"Oh, no Ash you take the bed." Dawn said sweetly. "Besides, you and your mum have already been kind enough to allow me to stay for the night. It's your bed, so it's right that you should sleep in it."

"But-"

"No 'but's mister, I'm too tired to argue, goodnight." With that, Dawn turned around, making Ash grumble. Sometimes her nice personality did have setbacks.

**Ash POV**

I sighed as I lay on his bed, not being able to sleep, my head thinking about a certain bluenette. I'm sure I've been lying here for around 20 minutes. I still felt a bit guilty letting Dawn sleep on the duvet. Suddenly, I heard some shuffling to his right, and knew that Dawn was still awake.

"Hey, Dawn?"

"Yes Ash?"

'Why aren't you asleep yet?"

"I was going to ask you the same question."

"Well, why aren't you?"

"This duvet wasn't as comfortable as I expected." Dawn said miserably, "I don't think I'll be able to get any sleep at this rate."

"No need to worry Dawn," I said as I stole her catchphrase. There was a minute of awkward silence. "Uhhh, Dawn?"

"Yes Ash?"

"Do you want to come in my bed for the night?"

"What?"

I blushed, but she didn't see in the darkness. "Well…uh," I blurted out, "seeing that you found the duvet uncomfortable, why not try my bed? I'm sure it's a million times better."

"Oh Ash," I couldn't see Dawn, but I knew she was smiling, "That's so sweet of you, are you sure you don't mind?"

"Yeah I'm sure." I responded. I heard a flurry of movements, and the next thing I know, my crush, Dawn Berlitz, was lying next to me, on the same bed. ON THE SAME FREAKING BED! This wasn't a dream, this was reality.

"Ash?"

"Yes Dawn?"

"Thank you again, it was really sweet of you to let me sleep here."

"No problem, Dawn and goodnight."

"Goodnight Ash." Dawn whispered. I was amazed that she immediately fell asleep. For some reason, I haven't been able to do that since I parted ways with her so many years ago. I lay there for god knows how long, still not able to get to sleep, just listening to the bluenette's soft breathing beside me. It was still dark so it must be in the middle of the night. I was about to go back to sleep when I felt something on my chest. I bought my hand up to feel what it was, hmm strange. I have no idea what it is. I began to move down the object. As my eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness, they opened in shock.

Dawn Berlitz, my _crush_, was resting her head subconsciously against my chest, with her hands wrapped around my waist. I began to blush at the situation and was about to pull her away, when I stopped. For some reason, this felt so… so _right_. I took this as an opportunity, and wrapped my arms around her slim body. I inhaled her scent – she smelled of Pecha Berries, nice and sweet. I wonder if it's the shampoo she uses, or just her natural scent. I was enjoying this moment that up until now only had appeared in my dreams. My crush sleeping soundly in my arms. Almost immediately afterwards, I fell into a deep sleep.

_I was standing in a big open field. Starly were flying in the sky, wild pokemon were quietly snoozing on the grass. I glanced up ahead and saw a girl with a slim figure and blue hair. "Dawn!" I shouted as I ran after her. She turned around and smiled back at me, "Oh, hey Ash."_

"_Dawn, where are we?"_

"_I don't know, Ash why don't you take a look around," Dawn winked at Ash and walked down towards a small stream and sat down. I followed suit and sat down next to her. For some reason, Pikachu and Pliplup were nowhere to be in sight, but something in the back of my mind told me it was okay and that they were safe._

_I turned around and smiled at Dawn and she smiled back at me. "So Ash," Dawn said, breaking the silence, "Want to come and have a swim with me?"_

"_Sure, let me get changed into my trunks."_

_Dawn giggled and replied, "Silly, you're already in your trunks!"_

_I looked down and saw it was true. Strange, I didn't remember getting changed. When I looked back up at Dawn, I realised she was in her swimsuit. Again, I could have sworn I saw her wearing her normal outfit a minute ago, oh well._

_We both jumped in the water and played around. We both had lost track of time, as the sunset appeared in the distance. I stopped playing around with Dawn and stared at her. She looked so beautiful with the sun setting behind her. Dawn stopped and stared at me. For some time, I stood there in the stream mesmerised by her beautiful blue eyes that sparkle whenever she smiles. Suddenly, she began to lean closer and I did too. Our lips locked, for what felt like eternity before we broke apart. I stared into those sapphire eyes of hers again._

"_Ash," the soft voice of Dawn called out to me. "I think I… I lo-" Before she could finish, she let out a high pitched scream. I stared in horror as she began to fall down a waterfall that neither of us had seen before._

"_NO DAWN!" I shouted as I attempted to grab onto her hand, but to no avail. I jumped down after her, grabbing onto her hand as we both hit the bottom of the waterfall. "Ash!" She shouted, and I felt the grip on my hand tighten. In a flash, thick, red mist enveloped the both of us. The mist began to show an array of pictures, none of which I recognised. Flashes of blue and pink were seen in the mist, as well as an eerie black colour, which cleared to reveal a 'Ω' symbol. (__**The image for this story)**__ Suddenly, the images disappeared as I lost sight of Dawn, I felt her hand slip away until she was gone. "Dawn!' I shouted 'DAWN!" _

"Ash, Ash!" a voice called.

"Dawn! You're safe!" I exclaimed!

"Uh, why wouldn't I be Ash?" She asked confused.

"I'll explain later, what's the time?" I yawned; relieved it was just a dream.

"Time to get up, I've been waiting for you to go downstairs with me for half an hour!" she complained.

I groaned as I sat up in bed. I hated getting up in the morning, it was so much effort. Hastened by Dawn's death glare, I quickly jumped out of bed and grabbed my normal clothes.

"You head on down first Dawn," I told her, "Don't worry, my mum doesn't bite."

She rolled her eyes and gave me a gorgeous smile before walking out of the room and down the stairs. Still thinking about Dawn, I didn't notice where I was walking and tripped over a small bag and fell on Pikachu, who was still fast asleep.

"Pika?" It glared at me as I lifted myself up.

"Hey, buddy sorry I didn't mean to wake you."

"Pika, chu, pikaka." He said before falling back asleep. I gave a sigh of relief. Normally when I woke him up too early, he would always shock me with a thunderbolt. Guess seeing Dawn again made him a bit happier. I stood up and noticed what I had tripped over appears to be Dawn's travelling backpack. When I had tripped over it, the top of the bag had unclipped itself and the pokeballs in it were scattered over my bedroom floor. I began to pick up the pokeballs when I came across a familiar one. It looked like Piplup's, I guess Dawn still carries his pokeball for contests, I had stopped carrying Pikachu's pokeball for a while now, which meant I could actually have seven pokemon at hand at any given point. I had picked up five pokeballs and put them back in the bag, but I struggled to find the sixth. I knew from a conversation we had last night that she carried six pokemon on her.

After a long search, I came across a pokeball that had rolled to the bottom of my bed. I grinned as I finally found it because it meant that Dawn wouldn't kill me later on. As I reached over and picked it up, I realised that it wasn't a normal pokeball that was red and white. This one had a gold tint with two stripes of white running across it. Interesting, I've never seen a pokeball like it before. I would have to ask Dawn about it later.

**20 minutes later**

**Normal POV**

"So how was your first night in Kanto, Dawn?" Delia questioned.

"Oh, it was great thanks, Mrs Ketchum!" Dawn said being her polite self.

"Please dear, call me Delia. Are you and Ash off to Professor Oak's lab then?"

"Yes Delia, Ash is going to show me all his pokemon, isn't it exciting?" Dawn said, jumping up and down with excitement. "He tells me he has a huge variety of pokemon, isn't that right Ash?"

Ash, who was in the middle of cramming two eggs and a piece of toast down his mouth at the same time, could only reply a "Mmmphgguh," Which neither Dawn or Delia understood. Ash shrugged and turned his full attention back to his food. After a minute, Ash finished everything on his plate.

"Wow, that was great, thanks mum!" Ash said satisfied. He noticed that Dawn was staring at him, with a surprised look on her face. "What?" Ash asked innocently.

"That was a new record Ash!" Dawn said showing him the stopwatch on her poketch.

"You actually time how long it takes me to eat?" Ash said, surprised.

"Yup, it's a strange habit of mine," Dawn admitted, "It just intrigues me how you manage to fit all that down your mouth at once."

After everyone had finished their breakfast, Dawn and Ash along with Piplup got ready to leave for Oak's Ranch.

"Hey, Ash, where's Pikachu?" Dawn questioned, noticing the absence of a certain yellow rodent.

"He seems to be still recovering from that hyper beam, I'm gonna leave him here and let him rest." Ash said.

"Aww, I really wanted to see Pikachu again, and I think Piplup does as well." Dawn said sadly, before suddenly perking up, "Hey, come on Ash, let's go to Professor Oak's right now, I want to see your pokemon!" Not waiting for our favourite trainer's response, she darted out of the door with Ash following behind.

"Wow… she can never keep sad for long eh?" He said as he chuckled to himself.

The two walked to Oak's Ranch while chatting about anything that came to their mind, from Pokemon battles to TV shows to food to clothes. When our favourite couple are together, they never seem to have a shortage of things to say or chat about to each other. Around halfway to Oak's Ranch, Dawn froze and slapped her head.

"Oh my god! How could I be so stupid?" She exclaimed as she slapped her hand on her forehead.

"Piplup?" Piplup questioned.

"Wait, what's wrong Dawn?" Ash said, shocked at the bluenette's sudden change in spirit.

"I left all my pokeballs back in your house!" She wailed, 'It would take me ages to get back there!"

"Hey, no need to worry, Dawn, here I'll give you a lift." Ash said as he threw a pokeball up in the air and out came an Arcanine.

"Arcanine!" It growled.

"Wow, an Arcanine!" Dawn exclaimed, "I've never seen one up so close! How are you sweetie?" She said as she rubbed Arcanine's chin.

Arcanine purred with pleasure and rolled over.

"Wow Dawn, he really has taken an interest in you," Ash said smiling, "He normally doesn't act like that to people he's never met before." Ash then turned his full attention back to Arcanine, "Okay listen here Arcanine, Dawn left her pokemon back at my house and I need you to help her get there faster."

"Arcanine!" It said again meaning it understood what his master had told him.

"Good boy, meet ya at Oak's Ranch soon!" Ash gestured for Dawn to get on.

As soon as Dawn got on, Arcanine launched itself at a shocking speed back the way Ash had just come.

"Waaiit! Slow Doooowwn!" Came the terrified voice of Dawn as Ash chuckled.

When arrived at Oak's Ranch, it was a little past midday.

"Ah, Ash my boy! It's great to see you again!" Prof Oak exclaimed.

"You too professor, I'm here to see my pokemon!" Ash said enthusiastically.

"Slow down, my boy! You should get some rest first; it must have been quite the trek here on foot!"

A few minutes later, Ash found himself sitting opposite the professor with a cup of hot chocolate next to him.

"'You seem troubled, Ash, care to tell me the problem?" Prof Oak asked the shaggy – haired teen.

"Actually professor, I was hoping that you would help me understand a dream I had yesterday." Ash asked. He still didn't understand it fully.

"Fire away, my boy, fire away."

**What does Ash's dream represent? Do you know? In any case, find out in the next chapter! See you all soon!**

**Please Rate and Review!**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 – Old and New Friends

**Hey guys, welcome back to my 6****th**** (rewritten) chapter of my story, I hope you all enjoy!**

**sUbSoNiCSoundwave – Thanks for the tip****Since I wrote this before, I'll start using " next time!**

**Uranium235 – Thanks for the correction, I went back and changed it :D**

"Hmm… that is strange indeed." The Professor admitted after Ash told the Prof everything apart from the part that he kissed Dawn, "I have to say, my boy, you have me beaten."

"Oh, so does that mean you don't know Professor?" Ash asked with a tinge of disappointment in his voice.

"No, I will be able to help," The older man said, "I am almost certain it was a dream was a vision or message about the future. But what the message is I am not too sure."

"Oh well, thanks anyway Professor, I'm off to check on my Pokemon now if you don't mind." The raven haired trainer said while walking towards the back area of the place.

**Grassy planes, back of Oak's Ranch**

"Hey guys!" A voice called as it was running through a huge grassland area. The voice belonged to none other than Ash Ketchum, who was visiting his pokemon that were currently living in Oak's Ranch.

Totodile, the Big Jaw Pokemon, perked up at the sound of the voice. To his joy, he saw his master running across the fields to get to him as well as the other pokemon. As quick as a Rapidash, he ran back to the others to tell them the good news.

As soon as Ash arrived where his pokemon were normally situated, he was greeted by a huge group of pokemon stampeding onto him. Ash, not expecting that sort of welcome, was left crushed more and more pokemon piled on. "Uh great to see you guys too!" Ash managed to say as he was being piled on by pokemon. In the time that Ash had been away, he noticed that not much has changed, apart from the fact there was a herd of 50 Tauros. Totodile was still the jolly creature back when they used to travel, and Snorlax, who was asleep and hadn't noticed the return of its master, was still the lazy (but loyal) Pokemon back in the day. "So how have you guys been?" Ash asked.

**Gary POV**

Wow, it feels great to be back in Kanto! After being away in the Sinnoh region helping gramps with his research, I haven't had much time to come back and visit. I do believe that it's been 2 years since I came back to Pallet.

Out of all the things I expected, I had never expected to run into May, Drew as well as the now 'famous' Dawn Berlitz, who was still the same old Dawn I had met when we were around 12. However, the thing I least expected was running Ash on the way back, let alone hearing him talk about a girl. I mean, this is Ash, the poor kid oblivious to love we're taking about, right? But I have to say, he has a good taste. From all the girls I've met, she's been one of the nicest I have known. And damn, she was hot. I chuckled as I thought of the times boys had tried to hit on her or ask her out…

_It was around midday, and I was walking through a park along with Dawn, May and Drew. We were currently walking through Jubilife City on our way to Sandgem Town to visit Professor Rowan before embarking on the ferry to Kanto. It was a hot day so all of us decided to sit down and relax in the park._

_After we found a suitable spot, we all sat down and got some rest. May and Drew leant against each other and had some 'private time'. By this, I don't mean anything like sex, just snogging. _

"_Hey Gary?" Dawn said after a minute of just sitting there, "Do you want to take a walk around?"_

"_Yeah sure, sitting here while those two are at it is a bit weird eh?" I chucked as I got up._

"_Sure is," Dawn said giggling, "I've had enough of sitting here while those two suck of each other's faces."_

_I chuckled again as we walked away from the two. Dawn was quite fun to be around most of the time, that is if you are wise enough not to make a remark about her hair, which I learnt the hard way._

_We decided to take a look around some shops, but luckily there weren't any clothes shops in our vicinity or I would end up carrying literally a ton of bags. Dawn and I decided to take our time, as we knew that Drew and May wouldn't be finished for a while. Everything went fine and dandy until we exited a shop that sold all sorts of evolutionary stones. Dawn had bought a fire stone and another everstone while I had bought a fire stone and a thunderstone._

_As we exited, I saw a bulky teen around twice the size of me and his 'crew' of people that looked equally as tough._

"_Hey," A gruff voice said._

"_Uh, hi?" Dawn said._

"_You're looking nice today," The guy said. I was trying to supress a grin as I knew the guy was trying his best to be nice and conversational, but failing. "My name's Jordan by the way._

"_Thanks Jordan, but have we met before?" The bluenette standing beside me questioned._

"_Er…no?"_

"_So what do you want?" The coordinator questioned suspiciously._

"_I was just er… wondering if you wanted to go on a date with me." Jordan asked._

_To my surprise, Dawn just crossed her arms, "No."_

"_Wait… what do you mean NO?" He shouted. He was obviously not used to be turned down._

"_No means no. You need to take rejection a better. Jeez." The bluenette said as she started walking away. Before she took her second step, Jordan grabbed her roughly by the shoulder and turned her around._

"_Look, do you want to do this the easy way or the hard way?" He asked threateningly. I was just about to step forwards and show that clown a thing or two when Dawn turned around and whispered 'No need to worry' before winking at me._

_The next thing I knew, Jeffery was on the floor writing in pain holding onto his privates for dear life. Meanwhile, Dawn dusted herself off from the bulky guy's rough grip before facing his friends._

"_So who's next?" She questioned with an evil glint in her eye. I chuckled as all the guys ran off into the distance as she walked back to me._

"_Wow, you sure know how to deal with people like that eh?" I said as I chuckled again._

_Dawn smiled back at me. "Come on, let's get back to May and Drew. With any luck they'll be finished by now."_

I smiled fondly at the recent memories and decided to get back to some lab work. Man, being away from this place for so long really put me in the zone for research here again. Just as I switched my laptop on, there was a knock on the front door.

Opening it, I was greeted by the sight of blue hair. "Dawn!" I said giving her a friendly hug which she returned. "Chasing after Ashy boy again eh?"

Dawn giggled and nodded, "He is here right?" she asked.

"Yeah, he's just round the back, follow me." I lead the bluenette to the entrance to the place that gramps keeps all the pokemon he looks after. I smirked after seeing Dawn's expression.

"Wow… it's HUGE!" She exclaimed excitedly.

"Yeah it is, need some help getting around the place?" I offered, which she politely refused and went her merry way. I took some time just standing there staring at her. She would make the perfect partner for Ash, and maybe knock some sense into that empty head of his.

**Dawn POV**

Finally… I was here! I've waited for the opportunity to visit Oak's Ranch for soo long, but I've never had the time to come to Kanto. I told Arcanine to stay at the entrance as I ran to the door and knocked. To my surprise, it was a brown – haired teenager that opened the door. 'Gary!' I exclaimed, 'Great to see you again!'

"Dawn!" He said, as we shared a friendly hug. "Chasing after Ashy boy eh?"

I couldn't help but giggle at the name. It sounded SO cute! "He is here right?"

Gary smirked before walking farther into the lab, "Follow me."

After Gary showed me to the back, I was awestruck. Wow, I knew Oak's Ranch was big, but I never expected it to be this big. There had to be tens…no hundreds of pokemon here. How on earth am I going to find Ash through all of this? After around 10 minutes of aimless wandering, I was beginning to regret my decision to turn down Gary's offer of showing me around.

Suddenly, an idea hit me.

"Togekiss, go!" I said as I threw her pokeball in the air,

"Kiss!" it said as it flew down gracefully.

"Togekiss, I need you to take me on your back and find Ash," I said whilst climbing onto its back.

It gave a quick nod and launched itself into the air.

"Isn't this place beautiful, Piplup?" I asked my companion as we flew by all sorts of pokemon, from Rapidash to even Magmortar.

"Lup, Piplup!" He responded. He too was amazed at how many pokemon were here.

"Hey, you guys stop it!" I heard a familiar voice down below.

"Look, Togekiss, there!" I said as I pointed towards the large mass of pokemon gathered around in a circle.

After Togekiss had gracefully landed, I thanked it and put it back in its pokeball. I saw how Ash was being mauled by his pokemon and smiled.

I then sat down on the grass and gestured for Piplup to sit next to me.

"Lup?" He questioned, probably asking why I'm not going to help Ash. Ash, having heard Pilpup, shouted in desperation, "Hey Dawn, help me get Heracross and Gliscor off of me!"

I smiled at the pokemon showing so much affection to their master, and responded, "But Ash, they're having so much fun! Anyways, I'm fine where I am thank you very much."

I giggled at Ash's face after I said those words, he looks so cute! Wait, what did I say? Did I just call him cute?! "Ah! Come on Daw-" Ash was interrupted mid-sentence as a certain Gibble found that as an opportune moment to bite Ash's head. After 10 minutes of laughing, I decided it was enough and got out some poffins and threw them into the air. The pokemon surrounding Ash immediately redirected their attention to catching a poffin in their mouth. I took this as an opportunity and pulled Ash up.

**Ash POV**

As I stood up, I grinned at Dawn and she smiled back to me. After being momentarily lost in her smile, I cleared my throat.

"Hey guys I want you to all meet Dawn, she travelled with me when I went through Sinnoh."

"Hello everyone, it's great to finally meet you all!" Dawn said with her bright bubbly smile. Even though she just met my pokemon, I could sense that they were already quite fond of her. Then I remembered something I saw in the house and said, "Hey Dawn, why don't you get your Pokemon out so they can play together?"

"Sure! Alright, come on out everyone!" She said as she threw four Pokeballs into the air. Four pokemon materialised and called out their names. I scanned them all. _Buneary, Togekiss, Milotic, Lucario, wait, Dawn has a Lucario?! _

"Wow, Dawn you've got a Lucario!" I exclaimed, proud that she raised such a pokemon.

"Yup, I raised this one from an egg, right Lucario?" Dawn said, patting the Jackal Pokemon on the head. To see such a powerful and proud pokemon submit and actually enjoy being treated like a pet made me smile.

"Alright guys," Dawn said, turning to face the five pokemon (Including Piplup), "I know most of you have already heard of Ash, so I want you all to meet his Pokemon!" As if agreeing, both mine and Dawn's pokemon ran towards each other and chatted to each other. Great, they were getting along perfectly.

We spent the rest of the day at Oak's Ranch, playing with our pokemon whilst talking to each other about the adventures we had. When the sun had set, we made our way back to my house. Most of mine and Dawn's pokemon wanted to stay with the rest, and we reluctantly agreed. We set off on foot back with Pikachu accompanying me while Buneary was accompanying Dawn (Pliplup decided to stay with the rest of my pokemon). Dawn and I were out in front while Pikachu and Buneary were holding hands behind us.

"So Dawn, do you mind showing me your other pokemon now?" I asked her, with my curiosity still as bright as ever.

"Umm, sure Ash, I guess a peek wouldn't hurt too much." Dawn replied as she took out the black and red pokeball and threw them into the air.

I stared at the pokemon, it was a small fox cub with black fur and a red tuff of fur on its head. "Okay Ash, I want you to meet Zorua."

"Hello, nice to meet you! I hear from Meema that you are good friends!" I jumped at the sound of the voice.

"Ash, you see my Zorua can use telepathy to speak," Dawn explained to me. I remembered another Zorua that I had encountered with Brock and Dawn on our adventures in Sinnoh could do the same too.

"Good do see you too Zorua," I said and smiled at him before turning back to Dawn. "Why does he call you Meema? I remember the one we met back in Crown City called Zoroark Meema too."

"I think Meema means mother," Dawn said, a bit flustered, "Since we developed a bond, it has looked up to me like a mother, isn't that right sweetie?" She said as she rubbed Zorua's chin.

"How did you catch a Zorua in the first place Dawn?" I asked.

"It's a long story," Dawn replied.

**Hope you guys enjoyed my 6****th**** re-written chapter! I'm aiming to upload at least twice a week to get back into writing new chapters as soon as possible!**

**Please review and comment and I'll see you all next time!**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 – Catching Up

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon**

**Hey guys, chapter 7 is now out, so enjoy!**

**Like the previous chapters, this HAS been re-edited. People that have already read this chapter in the past might wonder why it's been changed completely. I've decided to juggle the chapters around so you guys will be seeing Ash's dream unveil… in a later chapter!**

**22 – What does w3rw mean?**

**Redlox2 – I totally agree :D**

**Please review and comment!**

As Ash and Dawn walked closer to the Ketchum residence, they noticed a certain yellow Pokemon in the garden. As soon as the two got close enough, the small rodent's ears began to tingle. As it looked round, its expression of curiosity was changed to an expression of glee.

"Pika!" It said as it ran towards the two with its legendary speed.

The raven haired teen immediately, "Hey buddy, great to see you again!" he exclaimed. As Pikachu leapt into the air, Ash outstretched his arms awaiting for his partner to jump into them, but Pikachu had other ideas. The little yellow rodent jumped straight past Ash and into the arms of the bluenette next to him, which made Ash sweatdrop.

"Pikaka, chu!" Pikachu said while rubbing his cheeks on the beautiful girl that had become like his second trainer.

"Aww, I missed you too!" Dawn said, returning the hug, "I was so worried about you when you fainted yesterday, I'm glad that you're okay!"

"Pi-kachu!" The chubby rodent said, waving at Piplup from Dawn's arms.

"Lup, Piplup!" The baby penguin greeted back, with the same enthusiasm.

Ash smiled as he watched the reunion. Pikachu had missed Dawn as much as he did, and looked happier than he had seen him in a long time now. Did the amazing bluenette have that effect on everyone, or was it just him and his pokemon?

After coming back from his thoughts on the blue haired coordinator, Ash realised that neither Dawn, Piplup or Pikachu were anywhere in sight. As he walked closer to his house, he could hear the cries from Pikachu and Piplup as well as giggles that belonged to Dawn. After entering his house, he saw Dawn knelt down in front of Pikachu and Piplup. Piplup was tucking into some poffins while Dawn was tickling Pikachu and playing with his paws like somebody would do to a little baby.

"Hey," Ash said, walking up to them.

"Oh hey Ash, sorry for leaving you back there," She said with an apologetic look, "But I haven't seen Pikachu in so long, I just HAD to spend a bit of time with him. It looks like Piplup missed him a lot too."

"It's okay, no need to worry right?" Ash said grinning.

"Hey," Dawn said as she punched the raven haired teen playfully, "That's my line."

"Oww, that really hurt," Ash said, pretending to be hurt.

"Oh come on," The bluenette said as she rolled her eyes, "Let's get up to your room!"

Just as the talented coordinator was about to leave, she felt a little tug on her leg, to find Pikachu hugging onto them with a look of longing in his eyes. To Dawn, he looked so cute she could squeal.

"Hey, don't be like that," She said softly, "It's not like I'm leaving or anything, I'm just going upstairs. Anyways, I know somebody that could keep you company," She said with a sly smile.

"Pi?" The rodent questioned, but it was answered as Dawn threw a pokeball into the air and out came a bunny-like Pokemon.

"Bun-BUNEARY!" She exclaimed as she found Pikachu and latched onto him, which caused our favourite duo to laugh.

"Now you two have fun!" Ash said, as he led Dawn up the stairs to his room. As soon as they got there, both immediately jumped on the bed.

"So Dawn, you were going to tell me about how you got Zorua?" Ash questioned.

Dawn nodded and took a deep breath in, "Okay, so around half a year ago, I was journeying through Unova…"

"Wait, Unova? Why didn't you call me?" Ash said, surprised.

"Well, in all honesty I thought you had moved on to another region by then," Dawn admitted, "But will you stop interrupting!"

"Sorry," The raven haired trainer said sheepishy.

"Right.. where was I…

_It was a cold windy day. Dawn shivered as she was hit by another gust of cold wind. As if by luck, she stumbled upon a cave that shielded her from the cold harsh wind outside. After she had warmed herself up, she took Piplup out of his Pokeball. He had chosen to go back in his Pokeball to shelter from the cold outside._

'_Piplup?' It asked._

'_Don't worry Piplup,' Dawn said as she gave her companion a hug. 'The cold's gone now, we should stay and explore this cave. Hopefully when we finish, the stupid weather will have stopped.' Piplup agreed and they ventured deeper into the cave._

_Dawn and Piplup ventured through the caves for almost an hour, to find neither human or Pokemon inhabiting it. 'Piplup, let's go back,' Dawn said a bit sad. She had hoped to see some pokemon in such a big and deep cave like this. 'There's nothing here of interest.'_

'_Lup, Piplup!' Piplup said, tugging on Dawn's boot._

'_Huh, what's wrong Piplup?' Dawn asked._

'_Lup!' The penguin pokemon said and pointed one if its flippers at a glowing light coming from further down the cave._

_Dawn saw it too, and said, 'Come on Piplup, we have to check it out!'_

_As they got nearer to the source of the light, they overheard the sound of people talking. Dawn and Piplup hid by a boulder near the entrance._

'_Great, we've got 'em.' A gruff voice said._

'_Yeah, the customer will pay handsomely for these two,' Another voice said._

_Dawn gritted her teeth. 'Poachers.' She cursed under her breath and popped her head up to see what was going on._

_A Zoroark and a Lucario were badly beaten up and tied together. Zoroark was panting furiously as blood was seen on its fur while Lucario was in no better shape. Dawn watched in horror as one of the masked men kicked the Zoroark and it slumped to the floor and did not get up. As the same masked man turned to the Lucario, who tried to back away. 'STOP IT!' The two masked men spun around, to see Dawn standing there, anger clear in her eyes._

'_Humph, what's a little girl like you going to do to stop us, eh?' One of the masked men chuckled._

'_Stop it now! Can't you see you're hurting the pokemon?' Dawn tried to reason with them._

'_Of course we do.' The other man said, before kicking Lucario straight in the face. It howled with pain before it became unconscious aswell._

'_Piplup, use bubblebeam!' Dawn shouted as the little penguin pokemon let out a stream of bubbles from his beak._

'_Impressive, little girl but not enough. Golem, rock tomb!'_

_Golem summoned rocks and threw them at the oblivious Piplup who was busy trying to keep up the bubblebeam. The attack hit Piplup head on and sent him flying._

'_Pipluuuuup!' it exclaimed as it hit the far side of the cave wall._

'_Don't give up now Piplup, use hydro pump!' Dawn shouted. She was desperate to beat the poachers for what they've done to Zoroark and Lucario, along with probally countless other pokemon too. _

_Piplup began to form a bubble of water which shot out a powerful stream of water. It hit Golem head on and sent it flying into its trainer. After the attack had cleared, it was apparent that Golem had been knocked out. _

"_Well well, powerful as well as pretty." One of them said as he smirked. "Go Volbeat!"_

_A rather mean looking pokemon that resembled a bee appeared and glared at the bluenette and her Piplup._

"_Right, let's do this Piplup, use Peck!" Dawn said, with a determined expression on her face. Piplup's beak began to grow as it turned white with energy, but before he could land a hit, Volbeat flew up into the air and dodged the attack._

"_Thunderbolt, now, Volbeat!" The poacher commanded, as the bee pokemon launched the vicious electric attack that struck its target head on._

"_No, Piplup, are you okay?" The bluenette asked in a worried manner._

_The small blue penguin struggled to get up after the super-effective attack, but his determination to beat the poachers and his love for his trainers forced him to slowly but surely stand upright. "Lup!" He said with determination._

"_Hmm, quite strong for a pokemon that small." The poacher muttered, "No worries! Volbeat, finish this with Charge Beam!"_

"_Piplup, quick, spin and hit it with another peck!"_

_Piplup jumped in the air with its beak once again enlarged and spun around gracefully to dodge the Charge Beam. But instead of keeping a steady spin, the baby penguin spun faster and faster, until all you could see was its beak._

"_Great, you learnt Drill Peck!" Dawn exclaimed, with sparkles in her eyes. "Now, use Drill Peck!"_

_The super effective move slammed into the side of the Volbeat, ramming it into a wall. As the smoke from the collision cleared, it revealed Piplup standing tall and proud while the Volbeat lay unconscious on the floor._

_The two poachers glared at Dawn and shouted 'this is not over!' before disappearing in a puff of smoke. _

_Dawn embraced Piplup and congratulated him, before running to the fallen Zoroark and Lucario. As she reached them, their eyes flickered open._

'_Thank you…' _

_Dawn turned around. 'Who's there?'_

'_It's me, Lucario. I thank you for saving us, although our time in this world is short.'_

_Dawn shocked at Lucario's statement, asked, 'What do you mean?'_

'_You see, Zoroark and I have been guarding this egg,' Lucario said as it produced a black egg with red stripes running along it. 'It is our offspring, a Zorua. It has inherited both of our abilities and we believe that it has enough power to match any legendary pokemon out there. Please, Dawn, I need one last favour from you.'_

'_What is it Lucario?' Dawn asked uncertainly._

'_Please…take care of him… he is one of a kind.' The Lucario said before it slumped to the ground. Tears welled in Dawn's eyes as she knew what had happened. Lucario and Zoroark had been tragically killed when trying to defend their egg against the poachers. _

"So from that moment on, I vowed to raise Zorua as best as I can, to the furthest of my abilitles. He hatched shortly after that encounter, and I knew from then Lucario's words had been true. This Zorua looked stronger than an average Zorua." Dawn was on the verge of tears when she finished.

Ash, who hated seeing Dawn in this state, pulled Dawn in for a hug. Dawn struggled at first, then gave in and leaned against Ash's shoulder. "Don't worry Dawn, everything will be fine." Ash whispered into Dawn's ear. Secretly, Ash was enjoying this embrace.

"Thank you Ash," Dawn said softly, managing to give him a small smile.

"You two, supper's ready!" Delia's voice called from downstairs, interrupting their moment.

"Coming, mum!" Ash called back, as both he and the bluenette stood up. As Dawn walked to the doorway, she turned around.

"Thanks again, Ash. I'm so lucky to have a friend like you."

Ash could only sigh as the blue-haired coordinator went out of view. "Only a friend, nothing more." He mumbled before going downstairs too.

During dinner, we found that May and Drew had gone. My mum said she wanted to go to this event in Viridian City which lasted for the night. That means Dawn would be able to sleep in the spare room. I sighed, I had enjoyed sleeping with my crush last night, but hey, all good things must come to an end eh?

After dinner, Dawn and I found ourselves sitting outside in my garden, I glanced at Dawn, who was sitting next to me gently stroking and talking to Pikachu who squirmed with pleasure. I smiled at the sight. Dawn and Pikachu had shared a strong bond since she rescued him from Team Rocket all those years ago. I know such a bond had never existed between Pikachu and Misty or May, and I believe it never will. During my time in Sinnoh, Pikachu had grown to trust Dawn as much as it trusted me. I tore my gaze away from Dawn and stared at Zorua and Buneary who were bouncing about in the garden. Something about Dawn's Zorua stuck out from the previous encounters I've had with Zoruas and their evolution. It looked…stronger, much stronger. I could see by the look in its eyes and the confident grin that was stuck onto his face most of the time.

"You two, you should both get some sleep. Tomorrow's a big day." The elder Ketchum called from inside the house.

"Huh? What's so important about tomorrow?" Ash wondered aloud.

"Come on silly, tomorrow's the start of the Pallet Town Festival, with the Battle Tournament." Dawn reminded him.

"Oh yeah," Ash said, "Wait, why are you so excited about it?"

"I'm going to take part of course."

**Please comment and review!**

**Thanks and I'll see you all next time, until then!**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 – Feisty Festivities!

**Hey everyone, sorry about the late upload time, saying I had a busy weekend would be an understatement. Also when I finished the chapter, wasn't working for me so I had to wait ANOTHER half of a day for it to come online again.**

**Let's see how quick we can hit 25 reviews!**

**The new chapter is out, so enjoy!**

"Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to welcome you to the Pallet Town Festival!" A man said on the stage. "I'm your MC for today, and your mayor! Let us start things off with a bang, presenting the Pallet Town battle tournament! The winner shall a year's supply of pokemon food as well as this, the Life Gem! This is a mysterious object left behind by the creator, Arceus. Its power is currently unknown. Without further ado, let the tournament begin!" He shouted to the massive cheer of the crowd.

A boy walked onto one side of the battlefield. He had short brown hair and green eyes. He was wearing a green hoodie and blue jeans. "On the left, we have Steven from Viridian City!" the Mayor shouted to the cheer of the crowd. Steven raised his hand in acknowledgement before taking out a pokeball.

The second to walk on was a girl with midnight blue hair, pale skin and sapphire blue eyes. A white beanie with a half a pink pokeball on it covered the top of her head. When she stepped out, people gave an astonished gasp. "Could this be?" The Mayor said, surprised by the bluenette's appearance. "Ladies and gentlemen, on our right, we have the famous Dawn Berlitz!" The roar from the crowd was deafening. Dawn sighed at the cheering and waved at the crowd before turning to face Steven

"This battle will be a three-on-three battle; neither side is allowed to switch their Pokemon. The first person who knocks out all three of their opponent's pokemon is the victor." The referee said. "Each trainer will now choose their pokemon.

Dawn grabbed a pokeball and threw it into the sky. "Piplup, Spotlight!" She shouted as a little blue penguin pokemon appeared.

"Piplup!" It said as it faced its opponent.

Steven stood there for a minute before throwing out a pokeball. "Sceptile, I choose you!"

Ash, who was standing in the crowd with May, Drew and Brock (The others hadn't arrived yet) was looking at Pliplup nervously. "Steven's Sceptile has the type advantage, this battle's going to be tough, and I hope Dawn can pull through." Ash mumbled, before feeling a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Brock looking at him. "Don't worry Ash, you already know a type advantage isn't everything. Besides, Piplup knows some flying type moves as well, which should help." Brock said, "On top of that, she has won two Grand Festivals already, so she should be good."

The squinty-eyed breeder's words soothed Ash a bit, but he quickly turned his attention back to the battlefield. "Let the battle begin!" The referee shouted.

"Sceptile, use bullet seed on Piplup!" Steven shouted as Sceptile released a wave of glowing seeds towards Piplup.

"Piplup, dodge it and use Bubblebeam!" Piplup did an acrobatic jump which completely cleared the attack by Sceptile and released a rapid beam of bubbles.

"Sceptile, use X-Scissor to cut through it, then use Quick Attack!" Sceptile cut through the wave of bubbles before running at Piplup with astonishing speed.

"Piplup, use Whirlpool and jump into it!" Piplup began to form a huge whirlpool above his head, before jumping into it. Sceptile crashed into the waterfall, unable to get to Piplup with its Quick Attack.

"Impressive." Brock commented, "Not only is the Whirlpool protecting Piplup, but it was also able to cause damage to Sceptile." "But it's not a lot of damage; remember Sceptile is resistant to water attacks." May said, "Although that could be a good move for future contests, it looks great!"

"Let's end this!" Steven shouted. "Sceptile, use Leaf Storm!"

"Piplup, Hydro Pump!"

The two powerful attacks met midway, causing a huge explosion. The two pokemon were trying their hardest to maintain their attacks, but it was evident that they could not keep going for much longer.

"You can do this Piplup!" Dawn encouraged.

"Hang in there, Sceptile." Steven said.

After the attacks met, the Hydro Pump was slowly pushing the Leaf Storm back. Steven's eyes widened. "Impossible."

"That Hydro Pump must be very powerful to push back such an attack," Ash commented. Dawn had gotten a lot stronger than he thought, even though they had that practise battle Ash now knew Dawn wasn't trying her hardest.

The Hydro Pump hit Sceptile head on, but it was able to withstand the attack although it was panting heavily. "Are you okay Sceptile?" Steven asked, to which Sceptile responded with a nod.

"Great, use Giga Drain!"

"Quick, Piplup, dodge it!"

Piplup, who was still recovering from the Hydro Pump, didn't have time to dodge it and was wrapped in green vines that were sucking away his energy.

"Piplup no!" Dawn shouted as the vines left Piplup, they had clearly left their mark. Seeing how Piplup was still willing to go on, she stared at Steven for a moment.

"You'll pay for doing that to Piplup! Piplup, use Drill Peck."

Sceptile, counter it with Leaf Blade!"

The two attacks met head on, producing a cloud of dust that spread over the battlefield.

"What's happening, why can't the dust clear already?" May whined impatiently, to which Brock and Drew chuckled.

After the dust had finally cleared, it revealed both pokemon standing and panting heavily. Suddenly, Sceptile fell over and fainted.

"Sceptile is unable to battle, that means the winner is Dawn!" The referee announced.

"Great job Pliplup, you showed them who's boss!" Dawn said as she pulled Piplup in for a tight hug.

"Good job, Sceptile." Steven said as he returned it to its pokeball.

"Alright, she won it!" Ash said thrusting his arm in the air. "Calm down Ash," May giggled. "You seem more excited than she is; anyways she still has two more Pokemon to deal with."

"Will both trainers bring out their second Pokemon?" The referee asked.

"Altaria, come out!" Steven said.

"Buneary, spotlight!" Dawn said as she threw a Pokeball into the air.

"Bun, bun!" The pokemon said as it came out.

"The second round is between Altaria and Buneary. Let the battle begin!" The referee exclaimed.

"Altaria, use Dragon Pulse!"

"Buneary, use Bounce to dodge!" The small rabbit pokemon jumped high and disappeared into the clouds.

"Alright, Buneary use Dizzy Punch!" Buneary was plunging towards earth at a frightening rate, with its ears glowing.

Steven smiled. Dawn then slapped herself as she realised her mistake.

"What's happening? May questioned as she saw Dawn slap herself. Before Brock could answer, Drew butted in. "Because of the speed Buneary is coming in, she is unable to dodge any attack or there is danger that she'll hit the ground. And you're welcome." He said with a wink.

"Altaria, use Dragonbreath!"

Altaria unleashed a huge flame from its mouth. Buneary, unable to dodge it, braced herself for the impact. "Hang in there Buneary." Dawn begged as Buneary was hit by a powerful Dragonbreath which knocked her to the ground. Before Buneary could recover, Steven said, "Altaria, use Draco Meteor!"

"Dodge them as best as you can!" Dawn shouted. Buneary dashed around the battlefields as meteors were crashing down all around her. Dawn took a sigh of relief. Looks like Buneary would make it.

As the rabbit pokemon was dashing along, she noticed a certain Pikachu watching her in the stands. "Pikapika!" He shouted. Buneary froze for a moment upon hearing the voice. But that was a moment too late. A meteor came crashing down right on Buneary's head while she was staring at the yellow mouse in the stands.

"Buneary!" It shouted with pain.

"Buneary, are you able to continue?" Dawn asked.

"Bun," was the reply, but Dawn could see that she would be down if she took one more hit.

"Alright, let's end this quickly! Buneary, use Ice Beam, max power!" Dawn shouted.

Buneary launched a huge beam of ice towards Altaria, who was still recovering from Draco Meteor and saw the attack too late.

"Altaria!" It cried before it slumped over, knocked out.

"Wow, that was a one hit KO!" exclaimed Ash. "I thought Steven's Altaria was stronger than that. "You see Ash," Brock explained, "Altaria is a flying type as well as a dragon type Pokemon, meaning any ice attacks would do four times as much damage than normal. Besides, that was one of the most powerful Ice Beams I've seen."

"Great job Buneary!" Dawn said as she pulled Buneary into a hug similar to Piplup's. Dawn then took out her pokeball and put her in it. "You take a nice long rest."

"Altaria, return!" Steven said before looking at Dawn, "Wow, you're tougher than I expected a coordinator to be." He admitted, before taking out his final Pokeball. "Go Hitmonlee!"

"Wow, a Hitmonlee." Dawn said before reaching for her Pokeball. "Go Lucario, show them what you're made of!"

"Lucario!" It said.

The final round is between Hitmonlee and Lucario. Let the battle begin!" The referee shouted.

Dawn gestured towards Steven. "You can start." She told him with a smile. Steven returned it (but not without blushing!).

"You'll regret that!" Steven said, "Alright, Hitmonlee use Blaze Kick!"

The Kicking Pokemon jumped through the air foot aiming directly at Lucario. Suddenly, its foot burst into flame as it came close. To everyone's surprise, Lucario remained in its place, still calm and collected.

"What on Arceus is Dawn doing?" Ash wondered aloud, "Doesn't she know that if that Blaze Kick hits, it'll do some serious damage?" "Hey, I'm sure Dawn knows what she's doing." May replied. Brock turned to May, "Since you've been travelling with her, do you know much about her Lucario's fighting style?" He asked, curios at the Sinnoh native's pokemon. May shook her head sadly. "I'm afraid I don't know much at all about Lucario. You see, Dawn refused to use it for a contest when I was with her, claiming it was a surprise. I guess we'll just have to wait and see."

As Hitmonlee got closer, Lucario disappeared in a flash. The confused Hitmonlee stopped its attack and looked around. "Try and sense where Lucario is!" Steven shouted. "When you do, Hi Jump Kick max power!"

Before Hitmonlee could react, Lucario suddenly appeared behind it and hit the unsuspecting Pokemon with a Metal Claw. Hitmonlee immediately spun around but by that time, Lucario had already gone.

"Wow that is one fast Lucario." Brock commented, clearly impressed. "No wonder Dawn didn't show anyone." "It's also amazing how Dawn isn't even speaking to tell it what to do." Drew said. Ash ignoring his friends, concentrated hard on the battle. Lucario, jump up high and use Aura Sphere! Ash froze. He recognised that voice, it belonged to… Dawn? Ash finally understood. Dawn was using the power of Aura to communicate with Lucario, meaning their opponent had no idea what move they were going to use next. Ash saw an Aura Sphere hit Hitmonlee square on the chest which made it stumble a bit.

"Hitmonlee, use Stone Edge!" Steven shouted desperately. Hitmonlee had suffered a lot of damage but not even landed a successful hit on Lucario yet.

Lucario, use bone rush. Dawn's voice said. Lucario made a bone staff in his hand from his aura and spun it around which destroyed the Stone Edge coming towards it, effectively blocking out the attack. Dawn smiled. "Now, our turn!" She shouted."Lucario, use close combat!"

"You too, Hitmonlee!" Steven said.

The crowd watched in awe as the two fighting types battled it out with a variety of close-combat moves. It seemed every evenly matched when Steven then spotted that Lucario's chest was exposed. "Hitmonlee, use Mega Kick and aim for his chest!"

Steven's joy soon turned into horror as Hitmonlee's foot passed straight through Lucario. "What?!" Steven shouted, "A substitute? But how?"

In a flash, Lucario appeared below Hitmonlee. Dawn nodded. "Lucario, let's finish this with Force Palm!"

Both Steven and Hitmonlee realised too late. Lucario pressed his palm against Hitmonlee's chest as it began to glow. Then, Hitmonlee was blasted back a few feet before it hit the wall of the battlefield and got knocked out.

"Hitmonlee is unable to battle!" The referee announced. "That means that Lucario claims the victory and the winner is Dawn Berlitz!" The crowd started cheering.

Great job, Lucario! Dawn told him telepathically. Anything for you, mistress. Was Lucario's reply. "You take a good rest." Dawn whispered as she returned Lucario to his Pokeball. She then walked over to Steven.

"Great battle, I enjoyed that." Dawn said as she stuck out her hand. Steven looked at her in surprise before he took it. "Uh, t-thanks, Lady Berlitz." Steven stuttered.

"Please, call me Dawn," She said as she smiled at Steven.

"It was an honour to battle you Dawn," He said, "You don't seem like the other celebrities I've seen."

This took Dawn by surprise, "What do you mean?" She asked.

"Well," Steven said. "the others I've met have been stuck up and looked down on everyone else."

Dawn smiled again at this comment, "No need to worry, Steven, I'm just like an average person, there's nothing special about me."

Dawn quickly went over to the spectator's seats where she joined Ash, May, Drew and Brock who congratulated her on her victory.

"Thanks guys," Dawn said before taking a seat next to Ash and turned her attention to the battles. After another two battles, it was Ash's turn.

"Good luck!" Shouted May.

"He'll need it." Gary said smirking before May hit him on the head.

"Go show them who's boss Ash!" Dawn called out, to which Ash gave a thumbs up before walking away.

**Chapter 8 done and dusted!**

**This is my first ever time writing about a Pokemon Battle, so hope it wasn't too boring and please tell me how it was.**

**Please Comment and Review!**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9 – A Friendly Final

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon**

**I apologise PROFUSELY that this chapter is out one day late, it's the weekends, so much to do in so little time!**

**Sorry guys, another chapter with mostly battling! Also, my Pearlshipping oneshot has been published, so if you want to check it out, it's called 'Pick 'n Mix'.**

**PokemonFreak90 – I'll bear that in mind, thanks :) I've planned something out for his 'fame' but it won't come into play until later in the story.**

**Please review and comment, thanks!**

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the final battle of this year's Pallet Town battle tournament! Presenting the two trainers, on my left it's Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town and on my left, it's Dawn Berlitz from Twinleaf Town!"

The referee walked onto the stage. "This will be a four on four battle, either side are permitted to make substitutions. The first person to knock out all of their opponent's Pokemon is the winner." He raised his hand and announced, "Let the battle begin!"

"Are you ready, Dawn?" Ash asked as he took out a pokeball. "Just because you're my friend doesn't mean I'll take it easy on you!"

Dawn smiled at this and replied, "Same goes for you Ash, may the best trainer win!"

Ash threw a pokeball in the sky. "Go Oshawott!"

"Oshawott!" the small sea otter pokemon cried.

"Wow, how cute!" Dawn squealed as she saw Oshawott.

"Piplup, spotlight!" Dawn said as mimicked Ash's actions.

"Piplup!" the penguin pokemon said.

"How interesting, a battle between the water types!" The mayor said. "And look at that Unova pokemon Oshawott, it's not every day you see one of those around here."

"Alright, Oshawott let's start things off with water gun!"

The small otter then launched a stream of water at his opponent.

"Piplup, counter with Hydro Pump!"

Piplup began to charge its attack before unleashing a powerful burst of water. The two attacks met midway, but slowly the Hydro Pump was gaining the upper hand.

"Oshawott dodge, now!" Ash called out, not a second too soon as the Hydro Pump hit the spot Oshawott was in a second ago. "Alright, now use Aqua Jet!"

"Piplup, use whirlpool as a shield!"

Piplup managed to conjure a whirlpool and hold it in front of him so Oshawott's Aqua Jet bounced off it. Oshawott immediately got enveloped in the whirlpool, where it was desperately trying to get out. Although the water attack wasn't very effective, it took a considerable amount of energy to escape.

"Alright this is our chance!" Dawn exclaimed. "Piplup, use Drill Peck!"

"Oshawott, dodge it!"

Before Oshawott could react, the flying type attack had already hit its target.

"Oshawott!" It screamed before collapsing due to the intensity of Piplup's attack.

"Oshawott is unable to battle! That means that the victor is Piplup!" The referee announced.

"Great job, Oshawott, take a nice long rest." Ash said before turning back to Dawn. "Great to see how much stronger Piplup is, Dawn!"

"Thanks, Ash." Dawn smiled before returning Piplup. "Well done Piplup, take a rest I'll need you again soon."

"Will both trainers take out their second Pokemon." The referee said.

"Go Mamoswine!"

"Infernape, come on out!"

As the two Pokemon came out of their Pokeballs they cried their names respectively before facing each other in a battle stance.

"Mamoswine, start it off with Take Down!"

"Infernape, meet it head on with Flare Blitz!"

As the two powerful attacks collided, there was a brief flash of light before both pokemon skidded back due to the impact of the collision.

"Infernape, use flamethrower!"

"Quick Mamoswine, counter with hidden power!" Mamoswine launched a dozen green orbs at the incoming flamethrower which cancelled it out.

_Hmm, attacking it at range won't work _Ash thought as another flamethrower was deflected. "Infernape, use flame wheel to get in close!"

Infernape immediately surrounded itself with flames before shooting towards Mamoswine.

"Mamoswine, use Ice Fang to try and stop it!"

Just as Mamoswine and the flame wheel collided, blue sparks were flying everywhere due to the Ice Fang. Ash carefully observed the battle, waiting for the exact moment for phase 2 of his plan.

"Infernape, Mach Punch, now!"

Dawn's blue eyes widened with shock. "Oh no! Mamoswine, hang in there, please!"

Infernape struch Mamoswine's side with a powerful Mach Punch, sending it flying across the battlefield into a wall with a cloud of smoke. As the smoke cleared, it revealed a fainted Mamoswine.

"Mamoswine is unable to battle. This means that the victor is Infernape!" The referee announced.

"Alright, great job Infernape!" Ash said as he jumped in the air. As Infernape tried to imitate Ash, it grasped its arm in pain. Ash frowned at this. _Looks like he took more damage from that Ice Fang then I first thought_.

"Mamoswine, return." Came Dawn's voice. She then turned to Ash with her blue eyes shining with excitement. "I've got to say Ash, this is the best battle I've had in a while!"

Ash grinned at her, "Glad you're having fun! You're more of a challenge than I first expected."

Dawn stuck out her tongue playfully. "What's that supposed to mean? I'll show you true power, Milotic, spotlight!"

The crowd gasped as the rare graceful Pokemon appeared on the stage.

"Hmm, okay Charizard come on out old buddy!" Ash said as a powerful dragon-like pokemon appeared in front of him and let out a loud roar.

"Strange choice," Dawn commented.

"Hey, you know me Dawn," He told the blue-haired coordinator, "Type advantages don't matter for me."

As if to agree with his trainer, the colossal flame pokemon gave an almighty roar that made Dawn yelp with surprise and a tinge of fright.

"Alright, Charizard show them your true power with Dragonbreath!" Charizard opened its mouth and let out an unusually big Dragonbreath. Dawn was momentarily memorised by its beauty and power, before she snapped out of it and yelled, "Milotic, don't let its size scare you, use safeguard!"

A green aura surrounded Milotic that protected it completely from the powerful Dragonbreath.

"Hmm, not bad at all, Charizard, use Overheat max power!"

Charizard glowed red before launching a huge fireball at Milotic.

"Milotic, block it with Aqua Tail!" Milotic managed to stop some of the Overheat from getting through, but some still managed to hit her body causing her considerable damage.

"Milotic, use recover," Milotic began to heal itself. After it had finished, all the scratches on its body had disappeared. Dawn noticing that Charizard was still recovering, took this as an opportunity.

"Now Milotic, Hydro Cannon rapid fire!" Milotic began immediately firing off big blue orbs at Charizard.

Now it was time for Ash to be surprised, "Oh no, this is going to be bad. Charizard, dodge as many as you can!"

"Brock, I didn't know a Milotic could use Hydro Cannon," May said from the stands. "Normally they can't," Brock agreed, "I guess it shows how well Dawn's trained her pokemon."

Back on the battlefield, Charizard was weaving through the waves of Hydro Cannons with surprising speed and agility for such a big Pokemon.

"Alright! Now Charizard, use Steel Wing!" The huge fire pokemon obeyed immediately, flying towards Milotic with its wings glowing white.

"Milotic, Water Pulse!" Milotic launched a blue orb at the ground, which spread out into a wave of water hitting Charizard head on.

Much to Dawn's surprise, Charizard kept flying straight towards Milotic as it shrugged off the super effective attack. Just as the Steel Wing was about to hit, Ash shouted, "Now grab onto it."

Dawn knew what was coming. "Quick Milotic, try to get free!" Milotic was struggling but Charizard's firm grip refused to. "Now, Charizard, Seismic Toss!" Charizard then flew high in the sky, ready to perform its signature move.

"Milotic, Hydro Cannon again!"

The pair of Pokemon reduced their distance with the ground at a frightening pace. Just as they got near, Milotic fired a Hydro Cannon straight in Charizard's face, causing him to go off course.

"No, Charizard!" Ash shouted as the fire type dove head first into the ground, still grasping Milotic.

After the smoke cleared from the battlefield, it revealed the two Pokemon both knocked out in the centre of the field.

"Both Pokemon are unable to battle," The referee said, after recovering from the shock and power of the last battle. "Will both trainers bring out their final Pokemon?"

Ash turned to Pikachu who was standing beside him. "Ready for this one, buddy?" Ash asked the little mouse. "Pika!" It said confidently before jumping onto the battlefield. Electricity crackled around its cheeks; signally it was ready for battle.

"Thought you might use Pikachu," Dawn said with a wink, before pulling out another Pokeball. "Come on out, Buneary!"

"Bun, bun!" it said as it bounced up and down.

"Pika…" Pikachu said as he stood upright. He had no intention to fight Buneary.

"Don't worry Pikachu, just this once." Ash said in an attempt to persuade Pikachu.

"Chu, Pikapika!" It said, returning once more to its battle stance.

"Great, Pikachu use thunderbolt!" The small pokemon then fired a huge bolt of thunder heading straight for Buneary.

"Buneary, use Sunny Day then Bounce!"

Buneary threw an orange orb into the sky where it exploded into sunlight. Buneary then jumped into it, making her sparkle as well as dodging the Thunderbolt. On the stands, May made a mental note of the move. She knew it would prove very useful in future contests.

"Now Buneary, spin and use Ice Beam!"

Buneary launched ice attack with tremendous power, heading straight for Pikachu.

"Pikachu, use quick attack to escape then use Iron Tail!" The small yellow Pokemon darted out of the way just in time with Quick Attack and used its momentum to jump high. Pikachu's tail began to glow white as it headed straight for Buneary.

"Oh no, quick Buneary use Dizzy Punch to counter!" Buneary's right ear hit Pikachu's Iron Tail head on, with neither side giving way. The mouse Pokemon didn't notice that Buneary's other ear had uncurled itself and came to hit Pikachu.

Ash noticed this too late, and even before he could shout his warning, the Dizzy punch had already landed.

"Pika!" It said as it plummeted to the ground.

"Oh no Pikachu!" Ash shouted in horror. But to his relief, just before Pikachu hit the ground a certain Buneary caught him safely and plopped him down before bouncing away.

"Pikapika," Pikachu said to Buneary, which made her hide her face in her wool.

"Gee Dawn, thanks for the rescue," Ash said. Dawn smiled back at him, "No problem, anytime." Then turning back to the battle, she said, "Buneary, Solar Beam!"

"Pikachu, meet it head on with a Volt Tackle!"

"Pikapikapikapika!" Pikachu said as he became enveloped with an aura of electricity. The solar beam collided with the Volt Tackle, making Pikachu slow down as he winced in pain but he kept going.

"Buneary!" Buneary cried as the Volt Tackle hit her.

"Oh no, Buneary!" Dawn cried as Buneary lay there with swirls as eyes.

"A critical hit!" The referee announced. "Buneary is unable to battle. This means the victor is Pikachu!"

"Great job Pikachu!" Ash exclaimed.

"Wow, your attacks have sure gotten a lot stronger." Dawn said as she picked up Buneary in her arms.

"Pikapi." Pikachu said with an apologetic look on his face.

"Oh, no need to worry about Buneary, I'm sure she'll be fine." Dawn said.

These words cheered up Pikachu who then went to stand by his master.

"Great battle, Dawn." Ash said before pulling out Infernape's Pokeball.

"Now now Ash, just because you have one more Pokemon doesn't mean you'll win." Dawn said giggling. "Alright Piplup, it's all on you!"

"Go Infernape, I choose you!"

The two Pokemon appeared out of their Pokeballs, still worn out from their last battle.

"Alright, Infernape use Mach Punch!"

"Piplup, don't let him come near you with Bubblebeam!"

As Infernape moved closer and closer with his Mach Punch, Piplup fired a shield of bubbles to make him stay back. Ash, knowing that Infernape couldn't take another hit, said, "Now, use dig!"

As Infernape dug a hole in the ground, Dawn smirked. "Now's our chance! Piplup, use Hydro Pump at the hole!"

"Oh no… Infernape quick get out of there!" Ash shouted, but to no avail. Infernape flew out of the ground with a powerful Hydro Pump beneath him that knocked him out instantly.

"Infernape is unable to battle!" The referee announced, "Which means Piplup is the victor!"

"Alright, great job Piplup!" Dawn said as she punched the air in triumph before turning back to Ash, "Not so cocky now, eh mister?" She teased.

Ash stuck his tongue out at Dawn. "Whatever, I still have Pikachu, isn't that right buddy?"

"Pika!" It said, once again jumping onto the battlefield in a fighting stance.

Ash gestured to Dawn. "You can have the honours."

Dawn smiled. "Your mistake. Piplup, bubblebeam!"

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"

"Piplup, spin and use bide!"

After the Thunderbolt tore through the Bubblebeam, Piplup jumped and spun so that the Thunderbolt barely missed him. Because of the effects of bide, the energy from the thunderbolt was being stored in Piplup who had a yellow coil running around him.

"Piplup, now!" Piplup released the energy of Bide, which hit Pikachu's leg as it tried to dodge, causing considerable damage. Ash sighed in relief. If the Bide had hit Pikachu head on, he would have lost by now.

"Pikachu, try to hit Piplup with another thunderbolt!"

"Piplup, Drill Peck. Straight for Pikachu!" Dawn said, hoping her plan would all work out.

As the baby penguin pokemon started spinning rapidly heading into a Drill Peck, a certain yellow rodent jumped in the air and launched another thunderbolt. Just as the two attacks collided, something strange happened.

"What the…" Ash muttered.

"Amazing!" The mayor exclaimed from his box, "Looks like the amazing Dawn has proved her skill as a coordinator, even in such a battle! That combination is amazing, and to think she thought it up on the spot!" There were many cheers from the audience, obviously agreeing with the mayor.

As the thunderbolt hit the Drill Peck, the electricity from the thunderbolt was whisked around the rapidly spinning Piplup, from the tip of the beak to a huge trail of yellow behind the attack, making the Drill Peck a lot more energised and powerful.

"Quick dodge it!" Ash shouted as he clenched his fist. He breathed a sigh of relief as Pikachu barely edged the attack. For Ash, Dawn had come far too close far too many times for comfort.

"Alright, Dawn what do you say we finish this off with a bang?" Ash asked the blue haired coordinator, to which she gave a small nod.

"Piplup, use Drill Peck and Hydro Pump at the same time!"

Piplup began spinning rapidly with Drill Peck which was in turn wrapped in a twisting beam of water.

"Pikachu, Volt Tackle!"

**End of Chapter 9! **

**That will be the last battle in a while, so we can all concentrate on the storyline again.**

**Also, I might start writing another fanfiction soon, probally based in high school or something. Again, please leave your suggestions as to whether it should be Pearlshipping (AshxDawn) or Caviliershipping (GaryxDawn). Please note that when I publish the story, I'll alternate the updates so every two days a chapter of either this or that story will be published.**

**Thanks for reading and please tune in next time.**

**Until then bai :D**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10 – Festival!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon**

The small mouse began to dash towards the incoming Drill Peck-Hydro Pump combination for them to collide with a shock wave that knocked Ash, Dawn and the referee off their feet. As everyone came back to their senses, they found both Pikachu and Piplup fainted in the middle of the field.

After recovering from the shock, the referee said, "Both Piplup and Pikachu are unable to battle. This means that this match ends in a tie!"

"Wow, what an exciting battle with an even more exciting ending!" The mayor said. "Since the battle was a tie, that means we have two winners! Presenting the Gem of Life as well as one year's worth of Pokemon food to Dawn Berlitz and Ash Ketchum!"

After the tournament, Ash and Dawn were both presented with the prizes before they met up with their friends. Together, they returned to the Pokemon Centre to heal the Pokemon used in the intense final. When waiting for their Pokemon to be healed, they decided to take a look around the festival.

**~0~**

"Wow, that festival was great fun!" Dawn exclaimed. "Ash, I can't believe you've been to this festival so many times before, you're so lucky!"

The gang were walking past the now-empty stalls of the festival. They had spent the best part of a day walking around enjoying the entertainment the festival offered as well as the company of each other. Ash, Drew, May and Brock each had a huge stick on candyfloss in each of their hands, while Dawn was holding onto a cute looking Eevee cushion that Ash had won for him.

"_Roll up, roll up!" A rather portly man called out, "Come here to test your strength! There are prizes up for grabs! You, there young lady!" He called out to a certain bluenette._

"_Er, you mean me mister?" Dawn questioned, looking around to see if the vendor meant anyone else._

"_Yes, you. Do you fancy trying out your strength? I've got a few prizes left." The man immediately began to rummage for something in his bag._

"_Well… I'm sorry mister but I'm not terribly int- Oh my god!" The coordinator squealed mid-sentence as the vendor took out a selection of cute looking cushions. "I'm so doing this!" She exclaimed, handing the man 5 pokedollars. As we all know, Dawn was a sucker for cute things._

"_Good luck miss," The man said again, while handing her a huge hammer, "Hit the target as hard as you can, and if you ring the bell, you get a prize. You have three goes."_

_Dawn gulped as she walked closer to the target. She wasn't the strongest of individuals and the hammer felt really heavy and she was just about able to lift it up above her head. "Well here goes nothing," She mumbled, as she bought down the hammer with all her strength, but the indicator only went half way up._

"_Unlucky, two goes left!"_

_Dawn's second go was fractionally better than the first. Sighing in defeat, she knew she was never going to be able to hit the target hard enough. Just as she was about to raise the hammer for the third time, she felt an hand on her shoulder, turning around to find a pair of chocolate-brown eyes staring into her sapphire ones._

"_Hey Dawn, mind if I give it a go?" The raven-haired trainer said, smiling at the bluenette._

"_Uh, sure, good luck Ash!" She said, before flashing the trainer a quick smile and running back to the others._

"_Hmm, helping out your girlfriend, eh?" The vendor chuckled._

_Ash felt his cheeks heating up, "N-no it's not like that!" He retorted, "We're just friends."_

"_Hmm, you two sure do look like a couple. Anyways, good luck mate." The man said._

_With a deep breath, Ash bought down the hammer with all his strength, determined to win that prize for Dawn._

_DING!_

"_Congratulations, young man! You've hit the bell so you get your pick at a prize!" The vendor exclaimed as Dawn squealed excitedly in the background._

_Ash scanned all the prizes. He knew Dawn would like something cute, but he was never good at telling what was cuter. After a while of pondering, he decided to pick an Eevee cushion._

"_Here, Dawn you can have this." Ash said as he walked back to the group, holding out the prize to Dawn._

"_Are you sure Ash?" The coordinator questioned._

"_Positive. Anyways I have no use for it." The trainer replied._

"_Wow thanks so much! I've always wanted an Eevee shaped cushion!" The bluenette exclaimed, before giving Ash a hug._

"Huh? Oh yeah I guess I am," The raven-haired trainer replied. He was once again trying (and failing) to not stare at the bluenette in front of him too much. Being back with her so suddenly after they had been apart for more than 5 years was too much for our young hero to take in. _She's just a friend, a really good friend._ Ash repeated to himself inside his head. _She said so herself. Just friends. Just a friend that you want to spend the rest of your life with. Wait, no, she's just a friend. _Ash shook his head. Right now, he was determined to have a good day (or night) with his friends, and nothing was going to stop him.

Ash's delayed reply was not noticed by May, Drew or Brock. May and Drew were lost in their own little world, talking to each other and paying no heed to anything or anybody else. Brock, despite what he told Ash about how he had changed, was trying to hold himself back from pouncing on an unexpected woman and announcing his undying love for them.

Dawn, however, had noticed Ash's delayed reply and his lack of energy. Right now, Ash should be running up ahead and looking for places to go while the rest would try to catch up with him, but now, he was the one trailing behind all the others.

"Ash, is there something bothering you?" The bluenette questioned, concern obvious in her voice.

"No, everything is fine. No need to worry remember?" he replied.

Dawn sighed. "That's when I worry the most." She knew there was something bothering Ash, she knew he was lying. But why wasn't he telling her? Why wasn't he telling anyone?

The gang decided to call it a day but because they were so far away from Ash's house, they decided to rent a few rooms from the nearby Pokemon centre. The walk to the pokemon centre was in relative silence, with Drew and May communicating to each other silently and Brock being dragged along the floor by a certain Croagunk after his heart got the better of his brain. Dawn stared at the raven-haired trainer with worry. _I wonder what happened to Ash. He isn't like he was a few days ago, and I hate seeing him like this. Hopefully he'll get over whatever it is soon. _Little did she know the thing Ash needed to get over was her.

**~0~**

Ash, Drew and Brock were lounging on the couch in the Pokemon centre waiting to collect their pokeballs while the two girls had a look around. They had arrived at the Pokemon Centre an hour ago and the girls had insisted they go and take a look around while the boys insisted they take a rest. So after arguing with each other, they decided to split ways. The boys were discussing anything that came into their minds; food, pokemon and more.

Ash and Drew were in the middle of an argument about whether type advantages are the most important thing when facing an opponent when the two girls came back from their 'exploration' with an excited look on both their faces.

"Guys, guess what?" May asked excitedly.

"What?" Ash and Drew said in a bored voice which made the two girls put their hands on their hips.

"Just ignore them," Brock said before the girls attempted anything, "So what was it you wanted to tell us?"

Dawn then returned to being excited, "There's a Dance night on tomorrow!" She squealed.

Ash rolled his eyes, "Dance night, oh joy."

"Hey come on Ash, it won't be so bad," Drew said patting him on the back. "I'm sure there's plenty of hot girls there."

May hit Drew around the head, "Is that all you think about?" She asked.

"Anyways, May and I need something to wear to the Dance, so we were thinking that tomorrow morning we could go…" Dawn was cut off before she could finish.

"No, please don't say it!" Ash begged.

"Please, not that word!" Drew said, dropping to his knees in front of them.

"…Shopping." Dawn finished, which made both boys drop to the floor.

**End of Chapter 10!**

**Sorry for the short chapter, during the process of re-writing the whole story I felt like a small chapter should be squeezed in to give a bit more information. The next chapter would most definitely be longer.**

**Please comment and review.**

**Until next time everyone!**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11 – Piplup Pokemon Problem

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon**

**It seems like the majority want another Pearlshipping fanfic. Personally, I don't blame you guys! If I was to write another story alongside this one, please leave suggestions to what scenario it could be in (e.g. High School, fairytale etc). I would also like to thank you guys for hitting 30 reviews! I know I've got actually 40 reviews, but I don't think guest reviews count in the view counter.**

**Please review & comment, enjoy the chapter!**

**Ash POV**

"You are SO coming!" May shouted.

"I am SO not!" Drew shouted back, louder.

"Am!"

"Not!"

"Am!"

"Not!"

I rolled my eyes. Every time they would get into an argument, it would end up with this.

"Am!"

"Not!"

"Not!"

"Am!"

And of course, every time Drew fell for the same trick. Would he ever learn?

Dawn giggled as Drew and I groaned again before we finally gave in to the girls' continuous whining (Brock managed to wiggle out of it, I was so jealous), we sat around a table in the Pokemon Centre talking about the plans for tomorrow.

"So the first thing we do tomorrow is go shopping, right?" May asked.

"Yup," Dawn agreed, with a sparkle in her eyes, "Clothes shopping is going to be soo fun! Especially when we don't have to carry our bags!"

I groaned loudly as I sunk into the back of the couch I was sitting on. The only thing I hated more than _shopping_ was _**clothes **__shopping._ I didn't really understand how walking into different shops, staring at clothes and deciding whether to buy it or not was fun, or interesting in the slightest.

My friends seemed to notice I had let out a groan and when I looked up, I found four pairs of eyes on me. "Oh come on Ash," Dawn said as she put her small hand on my leg, causing me to blush. I noticed the others sniggering while Dawn seemed oblivious to it. "It won't be too bad, I promise," I grinned sheepishly which seemed to have satisfied her. With that, she turned away from me and was chatting to the others about what else we were going to do tomorrow to which I didn't pay too much attention.

"Hello Ash," Nurse Joy said to me. I jumped up.

"Hello Nurse Joy, are my Pokemon fully healed yet?" I asked. I wanted to get out of this place and in my bed as fast as I could.

"You better come over," Nurse Joy said before walking away. Dawn and I followed her as the others remained behind. "Well nearly all of your pokemon are back to full health but…"

"But what?" I asked.

"Miss Berlitz's Piplup still hasn't fully recovered," She said sadly, "I'm afraid that he was seriously exhausted after that battle. He'll have to stay overnight." She said as she handed us the rest of the Pokeballs.

"Oh," I heard Dawn's voice behind me. I couldn't help but notice a tinge of guilt mixed in with sadness in her voice. "Can I see him please?"

Nurse Joy shook her head, "Sorry, but you'll have to wait a bit longer before you can see him, and he needs time to rest right now."

That night, we decided to stay at the Pokemon Centre to accompany May and Drew, as well as Piplup. I had called my mum to see if it was okay shortly after learning about Piplup's exhaustion. I was sharing a room with Dawn while May and Drew were sharing a room.

"Okay, Dawn it's your turn." I said as got out of the shower. I waited but there was no reply, so I poked my head out of the bathroom to check on her. I found Pikachu and Buneary soundly asleep in the corner of the room but that was it. I looked on the balcony, even under the bed but still no Dawn. I sighed. Where did she run off to now? I knew she was a bit upset about Piplup and everything… I slapped myself on my head.

"Of course!" I shouted as I ran out of my room and down the stairs while several people were giving me strange glances as I ran past. I headed to the place Nurse Joy treats the injured Pokemon. My eyes widened in shock, I didn't expect to see so many rooms here. Now to find Dawn…

As I walked past the third door on the right, I heard a faint sobbing sound coming from inside it. I slowly opened the door too not disturb the occupants when I noticed a blue-haired girl with her back to me trying to cry silently as a Piplup lay on the bed in front of her.

"I'm so sorry Piplup," I heard her say softly as she stroked Piplup's head. "I guess I got a bit too carried away… oh I'm such a bad trainer, I promised you this wouldn't happen again."

I slowly approached the crying bluenette and but my hand on her shoulder. She jumped a bit as we made contact. "Hey Dawn, what's the matter?" I asked, worried.

"Oh nothing much Ash," was her muffled response, but knowing her for over five years told me otherwise.

"Come on Dawn, you haven't even turned to face me." I pulled a chair and sat next to her, "Don't worry, whatever it is, I'll help you."

With that, she turned around. It almost broke my heart to see her in the distressed state she was in now. The usual smile that was on her face was gone, her hair was a bit messier than usual and her eyes…her shining sapphire eyes were replaced with dull blue ones. I pulled her in for a hug, and whispered into her ears, "We can go through this together."

**Dawn POV**

Tears silently fell down my face as I sat next to the bed Piplup was lying in. Due to the extreme exhaustion, he had still not woken up. I looked at him again, remembering the last time this happened, over 6 years ago when I had just started my journey. After that day, I had sworn to my pokemon and myself that I would never repeat what happened that day, and hurt my Pokemon in the same way.

I couldn't hold it for any longer and let out an audible sob. "I'm so sorry Piplup," I said as I stroked Piplup. "I guess I got a bit too carried away…oh I'm such a bad trainer, I promised you this wouldn't happen again." With that, more tears fell down my face as I let out another sob. How did this happen?

Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder which made me jump. "Hey Dawn, what's the matter?" The voice I immediately recognised to be Ash's asked me. Determined not to cry anymore, I said quietly, "Oh nothing much Ash." I didn't want to worry him about petty things like this.

He didn't seem to be buying this and I felt a chair scrape as he pulled one over and sat next to me. "Come on Dawn, you haven't even turned to face me," His pleasant voice said again, "Don't worry, whatever it is, I'll help you."

With that, I turned to look at him. I stared into his warm chocolate eyes. They were so full of love and care. This is one of the things I loved about him. I felt him pull me in for a hug which I tried to get out of at first. I felt like I didn't deserve it, after all I've done with Piplup. Finally giving up, I let him embrace me which soothed me a bit. "Don't worry, we can go through this together," He whispered in my ear. I wrapped my arms around his chest and rested my head against his shoulder. I inhaled the scent of his hair; even though he had just showered, his hair still smelled crispy like something fired in a thunderbolt.

From the years that we had been separated, I had felt as if there was something missing in my life. Now, I finally realised what that missing part was; it was Ash. I had missed his determination and good will as well as his messy black hair and warm brown eyes. I had missed him cheering me on in contests and me cheering him on in his gym battles. For all that he had done for me, I would be forever grateful. Since he left, I had tried even harder to do my best at contests, to not let him down.

"Dawn?" Ash said, breaking my trail of thought. I looked up at him, "Yes Ash?"

"You know the prize from the Battle Tournament…" He started, but I cut him off before he could finish.

"Keep it," I said, which shocked him.

"What?" He spluttered out. "But you worked so hard for it! I can't just take it all!"

I smiled at this. Even now, he was being nice towards me, but what had I ever done for him? But no matter how many times he would ask, I would be adamant on him keeping it all. After 2 minutes, he sighed before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a strange blue stone with a golden line running down the middle of it.

"What's that?" I asked curiously. The object looked so intricately designed.

"It's the Life Gem." Ash replied. "Since you're not taking anything else… then you must take this." He stretched his hand out and offered it to me.

"How about we both take it?" I suggested.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean we split it, so we get half-half each." I explained.

Ash shrugged, "I don't see why not."

We both held onto opposite ends of the stone. "Ready?" I asked Ash to which he responded with a nod.

"Three, two, one, go!" I said and with a deep breath, I gave it a tug. To both our surprise, the Life Gem split quite easily down the middle where the gold line was. We both put one half of it inside our pockets before I leant back on Ash's shoulders. Being around him calmed me down from the stress I was going through earlier. I was surprised when I felt a hand go through my hair, but I didn't stop him since it was kind of soothing. We stayed like that for a while, but my eyelids finally began to get heavy as I started to drift off into sleep.

**Ash POV**

I was sitting in my chair, my arm wrapped around the girl of my dream while the other one was stroking her soft midnight blue hair. How did she get it so soft? Was it like this every day? We had been like this for at least 5 minutes now, enjoying the silence. At last, I felt the breathing of the girl on my shoulder change into a slow steady rhythm, and I knew that she had fallen asleep.

I slowly stood up and lifted her up. Wow, Brock wasn't joking when he said she was as light as a feather. I carefully carried her into the main lobby and made my way to our room. On the way, we were getting people staring at us whilst smiling then muttering something to each other behind their hands. I blushed as I realised how my hand was nearly under her miniskirt and I hastily adjusted it. As I reached our room, I carefully placed her down on a bed before pulling the duvet over her sleeping form.

Something inside me warmed up as I stared at her, she looked so peaceful when she was sleeping and had her signature smile on her face. I bent over and before I knew what I was doing, I kissed her on the forehead. "Sweet dreams Dawn, goodnight." I said, and started to walk away but to my surprise she muttered in her dream-talk, "Ash… wait don't leave me…"

I blushed as I thought about her dreaming about me, but I had to admit that did dream of her on several occasions. Just as I was about to take a step away, she grabbed hold of my arm and pulled me closer to her. "Erm, Dawn?" I said, but she was still sleeping. "Please Ash…I want you to stay here." She said again in her sleep. I shrugged and I lied down beside her and put my hand around her slim waist, like the time back in Pallet Town. I drifted off to sleep almost straight away. Little did I know, the next day was going to be full of surprises…

**Chapter 11 done! Sorry again for the lack of action, but I have neglected Pearlshipping for a while, and I hope this was enough :)**

**Thanks for reading and I'll see you all next time!**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12 – Truth or Dare?

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon**

**Hey guys sorry for not updating in such a long time! I've been busy preparing for two of my GCSE modules and I can now say I'm done with them! Also, my newest story 'That's Life' is out, so please show some support on it. Please check my profile for info on update times.**

**Question: What villains do you want to return in the story? I've got plenty of ideas, but I want to interact with you guys, so please leave your suggestions.**

**Please leave a review; it helps me get these out quicker**

**Ash POV**

"Ash Ketchum, would you hurry up?"

Both Drew and I groaned as we were dragged round the shopping centre by the two girls clearly enjoying themselves. It didn't help that this morning I was pulled up by Dawn at six for some reason or another.

"_Wake up Ash!" A certain bluenette said while pushing me. I groaned as I glanced at the window. The sunlight was just beginning to peek through the glass._

"_Ughh, what time is it?" I asked groggily as I looked up at the blue haired girl. Unsurprisingly, she had already sorted out her hair and by the looks of it had just finished chainging._

"_6am, why?" Dawn asked as she looked down at her Poketch. _

_I groaned as I collapsed back in my bed. 6am? What on earth was she thinking calling me up at this time? Before I could go back to the wonderful Land of Nod, Dawn decided to yank the duvet from ontop of me._

"_Enough!" She shouted at me, "Now get off my bed!"_

_I froze before I recalled the events of the previous night. I smirked at her before replying, "Well why didn't you tell me that last night?"_

"_W-what do you mean?" She asked. I gave myself a smile as I saw the look on her face – she knew perfectly well what I was talking about, but I decided to tease her a tiny bit more._

"_You know Dawn; the things you said to me like," I said, before putting on a girly voice, "Oh Ash, don't leave me, oh Ash, I want you to stay here."_

_Dawn, pretending not to hear this, turned around and mumbled something with her arms crossed. I grinned at this and I noticed Dawn's face had a red tint on it before she turned around. For the rest of the time we were in our room, she seemed to be avoiding me for some reason._

_It seems that by breakfast, she had gone back to her normal chatty self, to which I was relieved. My relief was short lived as I remember we had to go…_

"…shopping." I said as I groaned again. Drew and I each had five bags, with all of them filled to the brim with clothes ranging from long formal dresses to short, slightly revealing ones. The two had been going on at this for two hours now, with me and Drew following them like lap dogs. Even the people working (mostly the men) there gave us sympathising looks.

After the girls had decided they had bought enough, we walked around searching for a nice place for us to have lunch.

"What about this place guys?" Drew asked as he pointed at a nice looking restaurant. It had a picture of a Drowzee, and was named 'Drowzee's Diner' – sounds pretty lame in my opinion.

"Sure, this place looks great!" Dawn said as she walked into the diner with the rest shortly behind.

"How can I help you?" A waiter asked as he came over.

"A table for four please," I said. He led us off to a medium sized table with four seats around it. The table was next to the window so we had an excellent view of what was outside.

"So what are you guys having?" Drew asked, flipping through the menu.

"I'm having the triple cheeseburger and large fries." May said as Drew turned to her incredulously.

"Seriously May?" He asked.

"Yeah, what's wrong with that?" May said.

"Well…" Drew began, "It's a bit…fatty?" May stared daggers at him before putting her hands in front of her face.

"It's not fatty! Besides, I'm starved."

Drew rolled his eyes before muttering, "You're always starving."

"What was that?" May asked, glaring at Drew, before he shrugged it off with a 'nothing important'. I could sense the growing tension between the two, but this wasn't anything out of the ordinary. Every time Drew commented on May's eating habits, it would end up this way.

"Soo what are you having then Drew?" I asked him, trying to break the tension.

"Just a normal burger, unlike miss 'Ieatalotcauseimalwayshungry'" He said, gesturing at the brunette which earned him a few more glares from May and a few giggles from Dawn.

"Come on Drew, give her a break," I sighed, "Besides I might have the triple cheeseburger too, it's not that bad of a choice."

"Hmph," Drew said, clearly not impressed by my choice, before turning to Dawn and asking her what she wanted.

"I don't know, there's so much to choose from!" She exclaimed.

"Take your time Dawn, we'll wait for you," I said to her. She gave me a little smile that gave me a warm feeling inside.

"Fine, just as long as you don't take as long as you do when you're fixing your hair," Drew began.

"Drew…" I said, in a warning tone, but he seemed to ignore it and say exactly what I hoped he wouldn't say.

"I mean, I don't even notice anything different after you're done with your hair." Drew finished.

"Bad choice dude," I said to him as I gave a nervous glance at Dawn. She was fuming at Drew, who looked visibly scared and was trying to hide behind May. Dawn now towered over Drew, who seemed to be shrinking by the second.

"DON'T. YOU. EVER. SAY. THAT. AGAIN." She growled as she jabbed her finger at Drew's chest after every word. Realising she was out in public, she couldn't do much more. "Understand?"

"Y-y-yes 100%," Drew said shakily. I laughed as I took a quick picture of Drew's face. It was priceless. Also, it would make great blackmailing material for later. After the outburst, Drew was still recovering from the shock and May was trying to stop laughing. Dawn was smiling and humming a tune, acting like nothing had happened.

"Can I take your orders?" The waiter asked as he came over with a notepad.

"I'll have the beefburger and 4 portions of chips please."  
"One triple cheeseburger."  
"Make that two."  
"Greek salad please." We all stared at Dawn incredulously as the waiter went to put up our orders.

"Seriously Dawn?" It was my turn to ask the question.

"What?" She replied innocently.

"Is that ALL you're going to eat?" Drew questioned.

"Yup, I don't really like eating the stuff you are, anyways the salad is plenty." Dawn replied.

"Wow, and from all the travelling with May, I would have thought you picked up on her eating habits," Drew remarked, making May fume at him again.

"Hey! What did I just tell you about what I eat?" She replied angrily, "Besides, what you're eating is hardly better, Drewsy." May emphasised the last word, making me and Dawn laugh while Drew flinched.

"Oh please," The green haired coordinator said, flicking his hair, "You do know that nickname is getting old. Besides, you could learn a thing or two about eating habits from Dawn, April."

"Whatever, what I eat is my business. And my name is not April, it's May!" The brunette replied. I face palmed. Couldn't May see Drew was only teasing her because she reacted?

"Sorry June." May puffed out her cheeks. Luckily, she didn't have time to make a retort since our food came. A huge bowl of chips was placed in the middle for everyone to share. Looking at it made my mouth water as I remembered how hungry I was.

Next came our orders. Two huge monstrosities of cheeseburgers were placed in front of May and I, while a less almighty version without cheese was placed in front of Drew. A small bowl of salad was placed in front of Dawn. Wow, I sometimes wonder how she manages to live off of such small portions of food. That salad couldn't even fill up a millionth of my stomach, but that was just me I guess.

"Is there anything else I could get you?" The waiter asked. He looked around 18 and had brownish hair.

"It's okay, thanks." Dawn said, giving another one of her radiant smiles that made the waiter blush. Wait, why was he blushing and staring at Dawn like that?

"Don't you have somewhere to go?" I asked the waiter through clenched teeth.

"Eerm, yes sorry about that." He said before he scuttled off. After he had gone, Dawn turned to me.

"Ash!" She said in an annoyed tone. "What was that for?"

"What was what for?"

"You told him to go away. Don't think that for a second I didn't see your fists and teeth clenched. Why are you so angry?" She demanded.

"Sorry, I don't know what got over me," I admitted as I calmed down. Dawn was right, why was I so angry at the waiter? Because he blushed at Dawn? No that can't be it, can it?

Before anyone else could say anything, I made a lunge at my food. Man, that triple cheeseburger was good. And by good, I mean REALLY good. This place wasn't so bad after all I guess. After I finished, I leant back in my chair happily. May and Drew were bickering about something again, they really were like an old married couple.

Dawn was staring at me with an amused expression. I noticed that she had barely eaten half of her salad yet. Sometimes I wonder how somebody could survive on such a minimal amount of food.

"You know Ash, watching you eat like that never gets old." She said as she popped a chip into her mouth.

**~0~**

**Normal POV**

The rest of lunch went past quite quickly. After Ash and his friends finished, they all headed back to the Ketchum residence where they planned the rest of the day. Brock had joined them, as well as Gary.

"It's around two now, so after around 3 hours, Drew and I will leave to get prepared for the disco tonight." May said. The four of them were currently in Ash's room. May was sitting ontop of Drew, who was stroking her hair whilst sitting on a chair. Dawn was lying on her stomach on Ash's bed while he was sitting next to her. Brock and Gary were both sitting on the floor.

"So what do we do in the meantime?" Dawn questioned.

Gary smirked. "Easy. Let's play truth or dare."

"Sure, that sounds fun, me and Drew are in!" May replied.

"Sure, count me in!" the bluenette exclaimed.

"And me." Brock said with a smile.

"I guess I'll play aswell." Ash said.

"Great! Gary, you first." May said.

"What? I thought of the idea! I should pick who goes first!" He exclaimed.

May rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Now truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Okay, why are you so perverted?"

Gary smiled. He was expecting to be asked this, and knew his answer. "I'm not perverted, I'm just a bit more keen on seeing girls naked than most other people."

May shrugged her shoulders. "Not really a proper answer, but go ahead."

"Okay. Dawn, truth or dare?" Gary asked.

"Truth. To be honest, I'm a bit scared about what your dares could involve." The bluenette replied.

"Fair enough. Do you currently have a crush on anyone, if so who?" The question made Dawn blush. _I'm not sure. I've been getting strange feelings around Ash recently. But I can't tell them can I? What would they say? What would Ash say?_ She thought.

"Dawn?" May said, waving a hand in front of her face.

"I don't really have a crush but I have somebody I'm umm… interested in shall we say. He's …"

"You don't have to tell us any details, just a tiny description." Gary told her.

"Well, he's somebody I've travelled with in the past and great with Pokemon. I'm not telling you any more."

After hearing this, Ash felt a tinge of disappointment. _Who is it?_ He thought. _Kenny? No, Dawn told me she doesn't like him. Brock? No, far too old. Paul? Could it be Paul? I know Dawn travelled with him a while and he has some pretty powerful pokemon. But Dawn couldn't possibly like him could she? They're complete opposites. I guess they say, opposites attract…_

"Ash?" Drew asked.

"Huh, what's going on?" Ash replied, snapping out of his thoughts.

"Have you not been paying attention at all?" Gary asked him. Ash shook his head, Gary sighed. "Typical. Brock told his truth and May just did her dare, and it's now your turn."

"So Ash, truth or dare?" May asked him.

"Truth."

"So do you fancy anyone?" The bruenette asked.

"Yes." Ash responded, while blushing.

"Who is it?" May asked.

"Not telling." Now it was Dawn's turn to be disappointed.

"Okay, now Drew truth or dare?" Ash asked.

Drew flicked his green hair. "Truth."

"Okay, why do you always tease May?"

Drew smirked. "Easy. Because it's fun to see May's reaction."

"Hey!" May shouted at him. "It's not funny!"

"Whatever you say, May dearest." Drew said, waving her off. "Now, Ash, truth or dare?"

"What? I just had one, it can't be me again!" Ash complained.

Gary shook his head. "I'm afraid that because everyone has been, Drew can choose anyone he wants, sorry Ashy."

Ash grumbled. "Fine."

"Okay, Ash. Truth or dare?" Drew asked.

"Dare."

"Hmm, thought so." Drew smirked, before turning to huddle with May, Gary and Brock, leaving Ash and Dawn staring at them with worry.

Ash gulped after he heard May giggling_._ Suddenly, he wished he chose truth again. After a few seconds, the huddle turned around to face him. And Drew spoke.

"Ash, I dare you to kiss Dawn."

**Chapter 12 done and dusted!**

**Wow, I'm nearly done with the re-writing guys! This should mean there will be a new chapter around next week :D**

**Please review and comment, thanks.**

**Until next time!**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13 – Party to Remember

**Hey guys, sorry about the delay (Again). This is my newest chapter, so I hope you all enjoy.**

**Before you guys get on to reading the new chapter, I just wanted to tell you guys that I'm going to be away from the 27****th**** (Saturday) until the 5****th**** (Tuesday) of next month. Until then, you won't be getting any updates from me, sorry!**

**But while I'm away, I will have time to write more chapters of this so when I get back, I'll upload one immediately. In the words of Dawn, no need to worry!**

"Ash, I dare you to kiss Dawn."

Both Ash and Dawn blushed furiously at the dare, while Brock had an amused expression on his face and Gary and May were roaring with laughter.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Drew said as he smirked. "Kiss. Kiss. Kiss."

Brock, Gary and May joined in the chant, growing louder each time. _What should I do? _Ash thought as he began to feel nervous. _What if Dawn tells me that she doesn't like my kiss? What if she tells me she doesn't want to be in a relationship with me?_ Any further thoughts were abruptly interrupted by the chanting of the other three. Ash looked up into Dawn's eyes, and noticed she was staring at him in a shy manner. _She looks so cute like this! _He slowly moved his eyes from the features on her face and towards her eyes.

Meanwhile, Dawn was shaking with anticipation. _Is he actually going to do it? _Dawn thought. _I've only ever dreamed of Ash kissing me. What if he doesn't like me and only does it for the dare? _Dawn stared at Ash shyly, to see his reaction. To her surprise, Ash stared straight into her eyes.

Brown on blue.

Blue on brown.

As the duo were lost in each other's eyes, they subconsciously moved closer and closer towards each other, until they could feel the other's breath on their skin. _This is it. The moment of truth._ Both Ash and Dawn thought. Both Ash and Dawn closed their eyes, as they edged the final inch.

"Ash dear, is everything alright?" Delia said as she walked in the room, "I heard a lot of shouting coming from in here so I came up to check…oh my!" She said as she saw that both Ash and his crush were blushing furiously.

As Ash and Dawn caught sight of Delia, they immediately shot away from each other's mouths, each with a deep scarlet blush on their face.

"Am I disturbing something?" Delia asked.

"No, no mum, everything's fine." Ash said.

"That's good, I just came up here to tell you all that it's around 5pm now."

"Oh god, really?" May shouted, before dragging her green haired boyfriend out of the door, while muttering something about not getting enough time to get changed, drowning Drew's pleas for help.

The group disbanded, Brock rushing back to Pewter City to get a suitable change and Dawn scuttling off to her room without saying another word to Ash or anyone – a red tinge still visible on her face. While the others were getting ready, Ash was pacing around his room.

Pikachu had now joined Ash, and was watching him from a corner as Ash fumed.

"I was that close to kissing Dawn" He ranted to nobody in particular. "I swear, every time I get that close, something always happens! Will I ever get to kiss her? Ugh, this is so frustrating!" Pikachu didn't reply and just simply gave Ash another electric shock, that left him charred.

"Gee, thanks Pikachu, I sure needed that to cool my head down a bit." Ash replied while still twitching from the attack.

"Pika!" Pikachu shouted happily.

"So what do you want to do now Pikachu? We still have two hours before the ball start, that's plenty of time to get ready. I'm gonna have a quick nap, Dawn calling me up early in the morning really made me tired" Ash said before he jumped on his bed and seconds later, light snoring was coming from his direction.

**2 hours later**

"Ash, wake up dear." Delia said as she shook Ash awake.

"Wha, what time is it?" Ash replied as he sat up in bed.

"6:45pm." Delia said after she checked the time.

"What?!" Ash exclaimed. "The party started 15 minutes ago?"

"Yes it did, which means you'd better get ready young man, and quick!" Delia said as she gave him a tuxedo. It was a plain black colour with no decoration on it whatsoever. Ash groaned.

"Do I have to wear this mum?"

"Yes you do, now hurry! Dawn's already there, she wanted to wait for you but I told her to go ahead."

**~0~**

Twenty minutes later, Ash found himself outside the town hall of Pallet Town. He left Pikachu back at home with Dawn's Buneary and Piplup because pokemon weren't allowed to enter. "Wow…" Ash muttered to himself, "This place has sure changed."

As soon as he entered, he was hit by a blast of music. He walked over to the refreshments table where he picked up a squash and was sipping it while scanning the hall for his friends.

"Hey Ash!" A voice called out to him. May with Drew trailing behind appeared from the crowd. "It's about time you got here! Where were you?"

May was wearing a long white dress that went to her ankle with red sequences dotted around it. It had spaghetti straps and had a white flour attached to one of them. Ash had to admit, it suited her figure well.

Ash rubbed his head sheepishly. "Well, I er overslept."

"Typical Ash," Drew said as he flicked his green hair.

"Hey Drew," Ash greeted. "So I see you were made to wear one of these too."

"Yeah, but it looks good on me." Drew replied cockily. He was wearing a black tuxedo much like Ash's, but with a green thread running along the sleeves as well as a light green shirt underneath.

"Oh by the way, Dawn's looking for you. She should be on the other side, where the tables are." May said before walking back to the dance floor with Drew.

Ash made his way to where May described. He noticed how everyone at the party was in formal attire and was now glad that his mum told him to wear a tuxedo. The ages varied from young adults like himself, to aged men anywhere from 45 to 70 dancing with women roughly the same age. The women, like the men, were wearing formal clothing, mostly dresses that stretched to or lower than the lower calf.

As Ash found the place May was talking about, he scanned the people around him for a bluenette. However hard he looked, he still couldn't find Dawn. After five minutes of searching, he still had no luck.

"Hey Ash," A soft voice said from behind him, "Where have you been? I've been looking for you everywhere!"

"Yeah sorry about that," Ash said. As he turned around, his jaws dropped at the sight in front of him.

Dawn was wearing a navy blue dress that, like May's, reached her ankles. The dress was very plain, no decoration, no fancy straps. Dawn's slim figure fit the dress like a dream. She had a top ponytail (Which Ash had to admit he loved) and the rest freely let down. Her lips were the lightest of pink to which Ash was not sure was natural or lipstick. To finish off the look, she wore long white gloves that reached her elbows.

"Erm Ash?" Dawn said as she waved her hand in front of his face.

_Say something, Say something! _Every cell in Ash's body shouted at him. "Oh h-hey Dawn, you look really beautiful in that dress."

Dawn blushed at the statement. "You think so? I think you're looking very handsome in that tuxedo, it brings the smart side of you out." She complemented.

"So what do you want to do?" Ash asked her.

"Oh, isn't that obvious? Let's dance!" Dawn said eagerly as she made her way to the dance floor.

"Wait, Dawn! I have a… a confession to make." Ash said.

Dawn stopped and made her way back to Ash. There was a moment's silence in which Ash felt like he was being scanned by Dawn. It stopped when Dawn started to giggle. "You don't know how to dance, do you?"

Ash was taken aback. "How did you know?" He asked incredulously.

Dawn tapped her nose and winked at him. "No need to worry Ash, it's easy. I'll guide you through the first time, come on!" Dawn grabbed Ash's hand, which caused him to blush, and lead him to the dance floor where many couples were dancing to slow music.

"Okay, step one place your right hand in my hand." Dawn stretched out a hand, which Ash took. Dawn then placed her other hand on Ash's shoulder.

"Now, you place your left hand on my waist."

"Wait, what?" Ash said, blushing.

Dawn looked at him sternly. "Ash, do you want to learn how to dance or not?" Ash nodded. "Okay, then put your left hand on my waist."

Ash then reluctantly slid is hand to Dawn's waist. "Good, now follow me." Dawn said as she began to move gently according to the beat. At first, it took some effort for Ash but soon it became like second nature. As the two danced, Ash found his position more and more comfortable, until he took the lead and lead Dawn around the dance floor. Dawn smiled. "You're good at this Ash, you're a natural!"

All Ash could do was smile back at the beautiful bluenette as they danced around the room slowly. He stared into Dawn's eyes, and Dawn his and neither one of them paid attention to the people surrounding them, enjoying each other's company thoroughly.

"Aww, don't they look cute?" a certain brunette cooed. May and Drew were sitting on the side, both tired from the dancing. The couple had spotted Ash and Dawn after May caught a glimpse of Dawn's distinctive blue hair from a distance.

"Whatever you say, May dearest." Drew said, as he yawned loudly.

"I see you two are enjoying the scene." A voice came from behind them. Both turned around to find a spiky-haired, squinty-eyed man.

"Brock!" Drew said as he slid off his seat and patted him on the back. "Was wondering when you'd join us!"

"I just came over to see the duo. You know, they must really like each other." Brock said.

"How do you know? We haven't seen the two acting strange towards another." May asked.

Brock, being the older and smarter one of the group, had of course noticed something going on. "Well, when we were playing truth or dare earlier today, didn't you see the looks on Ash and Dawn's face when the other one said they had a crush on somebody?"

"Not really, no." May admitted.

Brock sighed, "You really have to pay more attention to these things. Both of them looked unhappy, almost like they knew they weren't the person the other has a crush on, but wants to be that person."

"Dang Brock, your observation skills are good." Drew said, before turning back to look at Ash and Dawn. "Wait, where did they go?"

"Hey guys," a voice came from behind them. They turned around to find a brunette around the same age as Ash wearing a black tuxedo with a rose stuck in the front pocket. He wore his signature smirk on his face, "What are you all up to?"

"Hey Gary, we were just looking for Ash and Dawn, we were wondering if you'd seen them?" The squinty eyed breeder said.

"Yeah sure, I saw them two walk outside, not sure what they're up to though." Gary said, before leaning closer to them, as if to tell them a secret, "Hey by the way guys, guess where I found Ashy last night when I went to check on him?" The others shrugged their shoulders as if to say they didn't know and Gary produced his phone out from his pocket and showed them a picture.

"Oh. My. God!" May squealed as she saw the picture, "That's so cute! Maybe they don't need us to get them together anymore!"

**~0~**

A man sat on top of a huge throne-like seat, with nothing but darkness surrounding him. In the little light emitted from the screens in front of him, you could identify some facial features. His face was battle-worn, bearing marks left by various foes over the years. He adorned a black suit with gold-trimmed sides and a magnificent velvet cloak. On the middle of the suit, a golden '**Ω' **was engraved. His lack of a hood or hat meant that his ghostly white hair was able to run wild. At his feet, a fearsome blue pokemon with a silver cross across its face was resting, its red eyes gazing lazily across the room.

At the back of the room lay the suit that he wore a few days ago in the ruins, to be less conspicuous. Across a huge desk, various pieces of paper were scattered everywhere, from research or notes that he had done in the past. If one looked carefully enough, they would see the various ancient treasures that the man had collected over the years, most of them invaluable.

The silence in the room was interrupted as a notification came up on one of the screens. Upon reading this, the man smiled before dialling a series of letters and numbers on the keypad in front of him. As he pressed enter, a person flashed up on the screen.

"Yes Commander?" The grunt answered. He was wearing a black suit like the commander, but a lot less fancy. Nonetheless, he retained the yellow '**Ω' **on his chest. He wore a jet-black helmet on his head as a sheet of dark polarised material blocked out the top half of his face.

"Get me Commander Styx please."

"Right away sir," The grunt replied before saluting him. The screen then turned black for a split-second before turning back on to reveal another man. This man was clearly younger than the Commander, and had dark brown hair. He had almost the same suit as the Commander, but instead of the gold trim it was replaced with a purple thread running along the creases. Like the Commander, this man also adorned a cloak that retained the velvet but it was much shorter.

"Commander," Styx said before bowing, "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Ah, Styx. Commander Apollo informed me you had made some progress on finding one of the artefacts?" The white-haired man questioned.

"Yes my lord. I have reason to believe that the Mind is currently on display at a museum." The dark-brunette replied.

"Do you have an exact location?"

"Yes sir, I have pinpointed the location to the museum in Pewter City, Kanto region. It was moved there two days ago."

"Very good, you have done well. I want that artefact in my hands as soon as possible." The white-haired man said.

"Very well. I will send out some men to get it as soon as I can." Styx replied, "Anything else sir?"

"Not at this moment. Continue search on the artefacts. Murkspawn out."

**~0~**

"Ash, I'm a bit tired, let's take a break." Dawn said as she led Ash off the dance floor.

"But Dawn, I was having fun!" Ash whined, but to no avail as the two sat down and observed couples dance. The two sat there for a few minutes, before Dawn stood up.

"Hey Ash, I'm going to go outside for a bit. This place is starting to get really hot."

Upon hearing this, Ash stood up as well, "Do you need company? I would like to come too." He asked the bluenette, who smiled and nodded. Both of them then made their way to the exit and out into the cool midsummer breeze.

They walked around the area, with Dawn admiring the scenery while Ash was busy admiring Dawn. The both found themselves near a river not far from the Town Hall where they sat down underneath a tree. "This is nice." Dawn said, breaking the silence between the two.

"Y-yeah." Ash agreed.

Dawn turned to Ash with a worried look on her face. "Ash, are you alright? You don't seem like yourself today."

"Yeah, I'm fine." The raven-haired trainer replied, before starting off into the distance. Knowing she wasn't going to get anything out of him, the coordinator stared off into the distance as well.

"So Ash," The bluenette said, trying to start a conversation, "Where are you off to next?"

The young trainer thought for a while before replying, "I'm not sure, I think I might go around and challenge the Kanto gyms again, what about you?"

"Seeing that I'm already in Kanto, it seems appropriate that I do the contest circuit here." Dawn replied, much to Ash's glee.

"Great!" Ash exclaimed, "We'll be able to travel again...right?"

The blue-haired coordinator gave a small nod before smiling at him,"Right." She confirmed.

Our favourite raven-haired trainer couldn't stop smiling. His day had just got from good to better.

**End of chapter 14! So Ash and Dawn are going to travel together again, but what adventures awaits? Also, another organisation is unveiled as they plan to go after an artefact; but is this just another rare object in addition to Murkspawn's collection, or something more?**

**Find out next time!**

**Woohoo! I'm nearly done with the re-writing too. One more chapter to go :D**

**Please Comment and Review, thanks :D**

**Until next time everyone!**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14 – Meeting an Old Friend

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.**

**Hey guys welcome to my last re-written chapter. Woohoo! I've been at this quite long and next time I write it will be a new chapter again :D**

**Anyways, let's get onto the story…**

"Ash dear, are you sure you've gotten everything?" Delia questioned.

A certain raven-haired trainer with a Pikachu perched on his shoulder rolled his eyes, "Yes mum, that's the fifth time you've asked that today." Today was the day that Ash left for his new adventure through the Kanto region, with Dawn. Ash would retrace his steps and challenge the gym battles while Dawn would compete in the contest circuit, hopefully adding another Grand Festival victory under her belt. May and Drew had left the night before to visit Drew's parents in LaRousse City while Brock departed to Pewter.

"I just want to make sure, better safe than sorry eh?" The older brunette said, before hugging Ash. "Be safe out there, okay dear?"

"Got it mum, I'll be on my way now." Ash said, as he walked out of the door and towards Dawn.

"Ready Ash?" Dawn asked with a smile.

"Definitely." The raven-haired trainer grinned back, and the two walked down the road, waving to Delia as they were walking.

"Don't forget to change your underwear!" Delia shouted, just in earshot which made Ash blush and Dawn giggle.

"So where are we off to first?" Dawn questioned. This was her first time in Kanto and she had little to no clue where to go.

"Well, the first contest would be in Cerulean City, where there's also a Gym. We should go to Pewter City first as it is en route to Cerulean, plus there's also the Pewter Gym there." The raven-haired trainer replied, "But first, I need to go to Professor Oak's lab, I've decided to take some of my old Pokemon instead of starting afresh again."

"Okay, sure! So Prof Oak's then we make our journey to Pewter, right?" The bluenette asked. She was eager to hit the contest trail again after quite some time of doing Pokemodelling. Also, travelling with Ash again got her excited just thinking about it.

"Yup, you sure seem excited," Ash chuckled as the two made their way to Oak's Ranch.

"You bet! It's been ages since I've travelled properly and I can't wait to get started again!" Dawn replied in a giddy voice that made her companion chuckle even harder. "So what Pokemon are you going to choose Ash?" She said, changing the topic.

The raven-haired trainer subconsciously rubbed the back of his head as he was thinking. "You know, I'm not too sure actually. I've got Pikachu, that's for sure."

"Pika!" The yellow rodent on his shoulder agreed.

"As for the other pokemon, I might take Noctowl as a flying type but that's as far as I've got." Ash continued.

"Hey, no need to worry," Dawn said, reciting her catchphrase, "I can help you decide when we get there.

**~0~**

"Hey Ashy boy, hey Dawn what brings you two here today?" Gary Oak asked as the duo walked through the doors to Oak's Ranch.

"It's Ash, spelt A, S, H!" A certain trainer shouted back, before turning around and facing the other direction with his arms crossed. Completely ignoring the tantrum, the bluenette standing next to him turned to the brunette teen.

"Hey Gary," Dawn greeted with a smile, "We're just dropping by to pick up some of Ash's Pokemon."

"Not a problem, this way." The researcher said before walking down a corridor. As the three of them walked around the corner, they bumped into somebody.

"Ash, Dawn! What a pleasant surprise." The voice greeted them.

"Hello professor Oak," Ash and Dawn said together.

"Well, I'll get back to my research," Gary said before walking back the direction he came from, "I'll leave you to gramps for now."

"Oh yes Ash, somebody called Liza called a few hours ago looking for you, I think you should call her back before meeting your Pokemon again." The Pokemon Professor said.

"Sure, can I use your videophone here?" Ash said, wondering why Liza would want to speak to him.

As the professor lead the duo through to the main guest area of the ranch, he got the videophone up and running before returning to research of his own. There, the raven-haired trainer started dialling the number that Liza had left Oak with. After a few seconds of ringing, an image of a woman with blue eyes and wild green hair popped up on the screen.

"Hey Liza, it's been a long time!" The young trainer greeted.

"Hey Ash! Its sure has been a while!" Liza replied smiling, before turning to the blue-haired girl standing next to Ash, "And who is this may I ask?"

"Hiya Liza, my name's Dawn from Twinleaf Town." Dawn said with a small wave and a smile, "I heard that you train with wild Charizard every day, that must be so awesome!"

"It sure is." The older woman replied with a huge grin, "Ash, my training with your Charizard is done for now, and it seems he wants to return to his old master."

"Great!" The young trainer exclaimed, pumping his fist into the air, "When's he coming?"

"I can send over his pokeball now if you want." Liza offered.

"Yeah, sure I can't wait!" Ash said, even louder.

"Okay done. It's been great speaking to you again, and be sure to send Charizard back after a while!" Liza said.

"Bye, it's been great to see you!" Both Dawn and Ash said at the same time, before the screen flicked off."

True to her promise, a Pokeball came through to Oak's Ranch minutes after the call was made. Eager to meet his old friend again, Ash rushed out of the lab with Dawn closely on his tail. As they got out into the open grasslands behind the lab, the raven-haired trainer wasted no time in calling out his old friend and companion. Upon seeing his old trainer, Charizard immediately ran over and gave him a crushing hug, but not before greeting the yellow rodent that sat on his trainer's shoulders.

Meanwhile, a certain blue-haired coordinator was watching the reunion from a distance, smiling. She was happy to see them speak to each other joyfully, probably catching up. Admittedly, Dawn was a bit scared of the towering pokemon that had joined them, it looked both fierce and tough and according to Ash's stories, it wasn't the nicest of Pokemon that didn't have a second thought about attacking people with its particularly potent flames.

After a short while, the coordinator was waved over to where the others were, where Ash wasted no time with the introductions.

"Dawn, this is Charizard, one of my toughest and most loyal Pokemon. Charizard, this is Dawn, a great friend and coordinator from Sinnoh, I really hope you two get along!"

"Nice to meet you, Ash has told me a lot about you," Dawn said, a bit nervous. Up close, it was more terrifying than she first thought.

The giant fire-type pokemon didn't say anything for a while. First, it stared at the bluenette in front of him. Judging by the closeness she and his master were standing as well as what Pikachu told him about this girl, he very curious. Shuffling closer, he inhaled the girls scent which clearly terrified her.

"Don't worry Dawn, I'm pretty sure he's not going to hurt you," The raven-haired trainer said, trying to calm down the girl.

"I know, n-no need to worry, right?" Dawn said, trying her best to sound confident.

Charizard took in her scent carefully. There was a prominent smell of pecha berries as well as a faint smell of the sea, probably related to one of her pokemon. But a smell that he could not miss was the prominent smell of his master. The scent on her however, was more prominent than any of his master's previous companions, for one reason or another. Charizard decided that he would keep a close eye on the duo in the coming days, to come to a conclusion himself rather than listening to Pikachu's. Deciding she was friendly, the pokemon stretched out its huge paw towards the coordinator, who hesitantly shook it.

"There you go!" Ash exclaimed, "You're already getting along!"

**~0~**

**Ash POV**

Standing at the back of Oak's Ranch, I began the task of picking out the Pokemon that would accompany me on this journey. Dawn had stayed in the lab and was calling her mother, probably about our journey. Man, I can't believe I'm going to get to travel with her again; it'll be just like old times! Now, back to the task at hand.

I had told all my pokemon, except the Tauros who looked happy enough here, to line up in a straight line to make it easier for me to select a few. I'm already going to be taking Charizard, so I need five more (Pikachu doesn't have a pokeball so Ash could carry seven). I had been walking up and down, trying to pick a few, but there were so many choices! From the eagerness of Totodile to the pure toughness of my Torterra, each and every one of my pokemon had strengths that really made it hard for me to choose.

But now, I needed to pick a team straight away, looks like I'm really eager to go on this journey.

_Think, Ketchum, think!_

Thinking logically, my first choice should be a flying pokemon for convenience in case we get lost. Hmm, Noctowl, Unfezant, Swellow or Staraptor? Right, Noctowl has psychic abilities that would really come in handy against most pokemon, but Unfezant's determination could come in useful… no wait, Staraptor's aerial training could be extremely useful and Swellow...

_Ugh! Take your pick Ketchum!_

"Noctowl, I choose you!" I said, picking a random one out of the four. Noctowl happily flew over to my side, as I looked to pick my next pokemon. After yet again thinking and thinking, I decided finally who I was going to take.

"Right, Heracross, Infernape, Krookodile and Gibble, come over here!"

As the five pokemon gathered infront of me, I could see the excitement in their eyes. It had really been a long time since I had any of them on my team, with the exception of Krookodile, and I couldn't wait to train with them again.

"So what do you guys say? Do you want to go on another journey with me?" I asked, to which they all responded with an enthusiastic reply in their language. I turned back to the lab with my newly assembled team to fetch their Pokeballs, and to check on how Dawn was doing.

**In the lab…**

"Dawn, it's great that you're travelling again," Johanna said with a smile, "I could see you were getting a bit fed up being cooped up in one place doing Pokemodelling."

"Yeah, I can't wait to start travelling again!" Dawn exclaimed, "And with Ash too! It'll be just like old times!"

"I bet it will, honey. Now remember, be safe and have fun. I believe Team Rocket is particularly active in Kanto." The older woman said, her voice turning stern.

"No need to worry mum, we'll be fine!" Dawn said, while Johanna flinched at her catchphrase. "Besides, I'll have Ash and he's had plenty of past experience with Team Rocket."

"You know Dawn that when you say 'No need to worry', that's when I worry the most," Johanna said sighing.

"Dawn! Are you ready yet?" A voice called from behind the door, which the young coordinator immediately recognised.

"In a minute! Just finishing this call!" The bluenette called back, before turning to her mum, "That was Ash, I've got to go now, speak to you soon!"

"Okay dear, have fun and win that Grand Festival," Johanna said, "Oh yes, and have fun with Ash."

"Muum! You know that I don't like him that way and he doesn't like me that way!" Dawn said, blushing.

"Sure honey, whatever you say. Good luck again!" Johanna said before the screen went blank.

**At the entrance…**

"Hey, sorry the call took so long. So you've chosen your Pokemon?" Dawn asked, appearing at the door.

"Yup, I'll show you which ones I picked when we stop off for the night in Pewter City."

"Leaving so soon?" A voice said from behind.

"Oh, hey Gary, we were just going – we need to get to Pewter City by nightfall," the coordinator said.

"Oh, well have fun you two!" Gary said, "Good luck in the League Ash."

"Thanks, I'm gonna win this for sure!" Ash said while shaking the brunette's hand.

The brunette then turned to Dawn, "Good luck in contests, even though you don't need it."

"Aww, good luck in your research!" Dawn said, while giving Gary a friendly hug (that made Ash flinch somewhat).

As Gary left the duo, Ash turned towards his companion. "You ready?" He asked with a smile.

"You bet."

**Whew – Last edited chapter done and dusted! Sorry it took so long guys, but I will be uploading a new chapter very, very soon so stay tuned in for that!**

**Please comment and review.**

**Until next time everyone!**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15 – First Step of the Journey

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon**

**Hey all, do you still remember me?**

**I know I'm a bit late, but happy New Year everyone! Sorry I haven't updated in so long, I've been really busy with coursework and the holidays in general. Hopefully in the new year, I can aim to put out more chapters for you guys.**

**shadowkittyxX – Thanks for the review and the kind words :)**

**Lightning07 – It's here!**

**Bunny2512 – Again, I'm really sorry, but here's the new chapter.**

**Enjoy :D**

The sun peeked over the tops of the trees, sending rays of golden light scattering in every direction, and illuminating two teenagers standing in a clearing. One, a girl, was sitting with her back to a tree, staring up at the sky while a small penguin sat on her lap. The second, a boy, was busy studying the map out in front of him, while occasionally running a hand through his ebony hair in frustration. His trademark cap was currently held firmly in the mouth of a certain yellow rodent, who was perched on the boy's shoulders.

"Where exactly are we Ash?"

"Uh..."

"We're lost aren't we?"

"No, we're not lost!"

"Fine, where are we then?"

"Looking on the map…"

"Yes?"

"I think we're here." The boy pointed a gloved finger at a part of a huge forest on the map.

"You think?"

"Hey! It's not as easy to read this map as you think!"

The girl rolled her eyes, before walking over to where the boy was.

"Ash, let me see that," the bluenette said, as the boy reluctantly handed the map over to her.

"Fine, let's see if you have a better chance reading it," He said in annoyance.

The girl rolled her eyes again before turning the map the right way up. "Of course, it's always useful to read the map the right way up, right Ashy?" She said in a baby voice, teasing him.

"Y-yeah I knew that. You know I was just testing you, right Dawn?" Ash said, his face turning red in embarrassment as the two Pokemon laughed at him, while Dawn just have him a sarcastic 'I believe you' look.

"Right, this way," Dawn pointed, before walking off with Piplup, not looking to see if Ash had followed them.

"Come on buddy, let's get going or we'll lose them," The trainer said to his pokemon.

"Pika!" It agreed, before jumping back onto Ash's shoulders. It wasn't long before the raven-haired trainer caught up to Dawn. "When are we going to get there?" He asked the coordinator.

Dawn looked down at her Poketch and back at the map, before saying, "Sometime in the late evening, depending on how fast we get there. Sorry Ash, you won't be able to check out the gym today."

"Oh well, let's get there as fast as we can." Ash said, in a defeated tone.

"Well, what are we waiting for then?"

**~0~**

A boy whistled tune as he rode on his bike along a gravely road in the forest. He was on his way to Pewter City to check out the museum, he was always a fan of learning new things about the past and had heard a rare artefact had been found and was on display there. He was wearing dark blue t-shirt with a white stripe running across his chest while he wore blue jeans on his legs. He had a red scarf around his neck and to top it all off, a red beret with a pokeball symbol on his head. If one looked carefully enough, they would see that on the back of his shirt, written in pen, said 'Property of Lucas'.

Nearing his destination, the boy decided to take a break from the midday sun and find somewhere to rest for a few minutes, when he noticed many pokemon were fleeing from a certain spot. Curious, he ran over to see what was scaring the pokemon away.

A sinister shadow was cast over the canopy of trees. The shadow in itself was huge – it was at least ten times the length of a wailord and several times as wide. The maker of the shadow was a colossal jet-black air blimp, gliding silently across the sky. Just seeing the thing took, or more like sucked, his breath away. The very sight of the craft seemed to strike fear into his heart. It would have been a wise idea to move away at that point, if he was not rooted to that spot by an unknown force.

As the ship began to land, it did not seem to care that its size was flattening entire trees. As the blimp came closer and closer to the ground, Lucas noticed that the balloon was not all black; it had a huge ' **Ω**' symbol painted on with a vivid yellow.

**Abroad the ship…**

A man stood on the bridge of the giant vessel, looking outwards with his hands behind his back. His most distinctive facial feature was his emerald-green eyes, that were fixated upon the moving canopy below him, looking for a suitable landing spot. His lips were drawn into a rigid line and the man's face remained expressionless. Dark brown hair covered his forehead and the topmost part of his eyes. He wore something that resembled a suit but less formal and easier to manoeuvre in. The suit had a thick purple trim along the folds and creases, an excellent piece of craftsmanship. The thing that stood out the most on the mostly black suit was the purple '**Ω**' in the centre, that very much looked like the symbol on the outside of the vessel.

"Prepare the ship for landing!" The man exclaimed, breaking into a brisk walk down the bridge, with his velvet cloak billowing out behind him. He walked over to a panel where he pulled out a microphone, "Captain Jones, this is Commander Styx. Meet me on the bridge in five minutes. I repeat, Captain Jones, meet me on the bridge in five minutes."

Soon after the message was broadcasted across the entire ship, a man arrived at the bridge, where the commander's command centre was. He was wearing a suit (like Styx's) but it had a grey trim instead of a purple one, and his suit lacked the presence of a cape. "Ah, Jones." The commander said, as the captain entered the room. "I am tasking you and your men to a very important task that would take us one step closer to our ultimate goal."

The commander paused, but Jones knew it was best to keep silent as the commander wasn't finished. Getting on Styx's bad side was certainly not the intention of the captain. Styx walked over to the Holotransmitter and switched it on.

"This is the Orichalcum Orb. We have finally managed to track it down, and our research suggests that ancient energy resonates from the very orb." The commander gestured to the hologram, which was of an orb with a dirty gold colour and in the rough shape of a sphere. "This orb is currently on display in the Pewter City museum, and I want you and your men to go in and… borrow it. Which is why we are currently in Kanto."

"I'm guessing you want us to break in and snatch the orb sir?" Jones asked.

"Spot on. Before I get on to the plan of action, there are several very important properties of the Orb we need to get clear right away." Styx typed something in to the holotransmitter, causing it to move on to another image, depicting what the commander was saying. "The Orb has some very special properties, the first of which is that the orb has to be fed with a constant supply of light, or it becomes very volatile and explosive." The hologram depicted a video of the orb exploding, which amazed Jones; how such a small object could make an explosion so big was beyond him. "To get around this issue, just simply place the orb in the container you're provided with and set the light intensity to around the same as twilight – that is when it is least volatile."

"Got it sir. Anything else about the orb?" The captain said. He knew this was going to be a dangerous mission, and he wanted to know everything he could before he set off.

"Yes, one more thing. Captain, please step into this chamber." Styx gestured to a small chamber, just enough for one person to stand in. "Don't worry, this won't hurt." Styx said, before closing the door. He then approached a control panel, where his fingers danced over the keys, before hitting a green button. Jones felt a tingling sensation within him, before a murky brown light appeared for a split second just above his skin, before disappearing.

"Uh, sir, what was that?"

"The murky brown light?"

"Yes sir."

Styx cracked a small smile, "A very good question. That, my good captain, was your aura." The captain did a double take. He had to learn a whole lot about aura when he signed up to his current job, and didn't expect to encounter it again.

"You see, the Orb can only be touched by the purest of all auras, which is only a selected few throughout the millennia. But, if you use this," He gestured to an image of a gauntlet on the screen, "This gauntlet will give you the ability to hold the Orb in your hand without causing harm to yourself. Thi-"

Styx was interrupted as a grunt came in the room. He was wearing a black suit with a golden ' **ω**' in the middle of it. "Sir, we have landed."

"Good, what is our position?"

"Two miles from Pewter City sir. And also, upon landing, we found a kid trying to sneak away."

"Hmm, bring him up here."

The grunt moved out of the way to reveal two more grunts holding down a struggling boy. Styx slowly approached the boy, who stopped shuffling around and stared at him.

"What is your name boy? Answer me!" Styx demanded.

"Lucas." The boy spat.

"Well, _Lucas_, what a pleasant surprise we have for you in store.

**~0~**

"Nearly… there…" Dawn said, as she dragged her feet along the grass beneath her. The sun had set long ago and the coordinator was beginning to get really tired – they had been walking for hours now. Piplup fell asleep a long time ago, and Dawn, without the energy required to carry him, decided it was best to return him to his pokeball.

"Hey, Dawn, why don't we rest a while?" Ash said, noticing her fatigue. The raven-haired trainer was also feeling quite tired, but he still had the energy to go on. It was blatantly obvious that Dawn had drained her energy reserves completely and was in no stage to keep on going. The two of them found a nice place to sit down and rest, namely sitting with their backs against a gnarled oak tree.

"It's beautiful…" Dawn whispered, gazing up at the starry sky.

"Yeah, it is," Ash agreed, before placing a sleeping Pikachu on the grass and pointing his finger up at a constellation. "Look, it's Mespirit, and there's Uxie."

"Yup, and that's Azelf," She said, pointing at another one, "Hey, when did you get so good at star constellations?"

"Sometimes when I travel, I like to stare at the night sky, so over time, I sorta figured out most of the constellations." Ash said, "Of course, with the slight help of some books."

Dawn giggled, "You mean a lot of help?"

"Yeah, whatever."

There was then silence between the two, when they both decided to go back to stargazing. After a few minutes of silence, Ash felt something lean on his right shoulder. Turning around, he found a certain blue-haired coordinator fast asleep, her head subconsciously resting on the trainer's shoulders.

"Night Dawn," Ash said, gently stroking her hair, "Sweet dreams."

**And cut! Wow, that chapter was not fun to write. This was a sort of filler chapter, and I hate writing those, but sometimes it's necessary for the story to proceed on.**

**Again, if you haven't read my previous re-written chapters, this story probably makes no sense whatsoever now, so it's a good idea to go back and read them!**

**Okay, now I'll go in a bit about the 'mysterious organisation' in my story. There are three tiers of ranks, Commander, Captain and Grunt.**

**All ranks wear a black suit-like uniform (similar to what Team Rocket wears in Pokemon BW), but have different trims to symbolise different ranks.**

**Commanders have a purple 'Ω' symbol in the middle of their chest and a purple trim to their uniform, along with a velvet cloak.**

**Captains have a grey 'Ω' symbol in the middle of their chest and a grey trim to their uniform.**

**Grunts have a gold 'ω' symbol in the middle of their chest and that's pretty much it.**

**In case you guys didn't know, ω is the lower case of Ω, and you've all probably guessed what the new villains are called XD.**

**I'll go into more about aura in the later chapters, in case you were curious.**

**The next chapter should be out in a week max and much longer, so I'll see you all then.**

**Please review, favourite and follow.**

**DreamCrafter out!**

**Question: What do you guys think of the cover and profile picture?**


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16 – Nostalgia

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon**

**Hey guys… sorry for the late chapter again :S**

**I've managed to somehow delete all the files I have on this story, so this story I had to write again from scratch, which is especially tedious since it's a battle chapter -.- Plus I had the structure of the next 3 or 4 chapters as well. Oh well, at least this chapter's up now :D**

**Xx Dreamstar Of Dreamclan xX – Thanks :D**

**By the way guys, after this story hits chapter 20 or so, I was thinking about elongating each chapter, so around 10-15k words per chapter. This would mean slower upload times, but more for you all to read. Please tell me your opinion.**

**Hope you enjoy :)**

The sun rose above the canopy of trees, showering the nearby city with warm rays of light. One ray found its way through a window and onto a certain bluenette's face, who let out a soft moan before opening her eyes to reveal glistering sapphire orbs. After a minute of lying there, she sat up, confused.

"I remember falling asleep in the forest… I wonder how I got here." She mumbled to herself while getting off the bed, to notice a certain raven-haired trainer sleeping like a baby in the adjacent bed. She giggled silently at how the boy looked – his head lay lopsided on the pillow with a small bit of drool running down his chin while snoring like a baby - before quickly running into the bathroom to get ready for the day ahead.

Taking her time, Dawn emerged from the bathroom to find Ash still fast asleep. She rolled her eyes before approaching the bed and crouching down next to it while gently shaking the boy. "Ash, wake up."

"Not now… please…5 more minutes mum…" The trainer mumbled in his sleep while waving a hand in the air, trying to swat away the source of annoyance.

Dawn stood up, with her hands on her hips. "This won't do," She said as she walked off into the bathroom, coming back with a cup of water, which she proceeded to throw onto the raven-haired trainer.

"Come on… hey, Pikachu stop licking me…" The boy said, still refusing to wake up.

The bluenette sighed, before slumping down on her bed. "Urgh, if Ash doesn't wake up to have his gym battle soon, by the time he's done there won't be time to look around."

Upon hearing the words 'gym' and 'battle', Ash's eyes immediately snapped open as he shot out of bed, the little yellow rodent next to him doing something surprisingly similar. With speed that would put an infernape to shame, he proceeded to jump out of his pyjamas and into his normal clothes. "Come on Dawn, we gotta get to the gym!" He shouted as he ran out of the room they were staying, jamming his cap on his head.

Dawn, on the other hand, was still sat on her bed with her mouth in an 'o' shape. She knew Ash was keen for his Gym battles, but this, this was a whole new level. After a minute, the said boy's head popped around the edge of the door. "Come on, what are you waiting for?" He exclaimed, as he ran in the room, grabbed the bluenette and bolted out again.

The duo arrived at the gym in a matter of minutes, quite a feat when the Pokemon Center and the Gym were at separate ends of the city. As they ran through the streets filled with people getting to their everyday jobs they received quite a few stares, and even somebody muttering 'teenage couples these days'.

As Ash bolted through the front doors of the gym, he stopped. A sudden wave of nostalgia washed over him. Just standing at the entrance to the location of his very first gym battle made all the old memories come back, when he couldn't win a single gym battle. He remembered what happened last time at this very gym, how his Pikachu got pummelled so easily by Brock's Onix and how Ash forfeited the match afterwards. Ash chuckled at how he used to get Gym Badges not by winning battles, but because the leaders felt sorry for him – but everything was different now.

"You know Ash," Dawn said, slightly out of breath, "It would have been easier for you to just tell me and let me walk by myself."

"Hey, it wasn't my fault. You were taking too long!" The trainer said, before running in the direction of the battlefield.

"Ash wait!"

THUD!

"Whoa there mister, watch where you're going!" A gruff voice said.

"Ash, what did I tell you?" Dawn scolded as she approached him, before turning to the man, "I'm terribly sorry about my friend here, he sometimes gets a little too… eager."

"Hey, no worries missy, your friend here is per-Ash?"

Ash looked at the man. He had squinty eyes, dark brown hair and looked like a much older version on Brock. "Flint?"

"That's the one! It's sure been a long time eh laddie?"

"It sure has! Flint, who's the gym leader here now?"

"Still me."

"Then I challenge you to a battle!"

**~0~**

Ash Ketchum stood on one end of the battlefield, facing his opponent, Flint, opposite him. Because the gym was a rock-type, the terrain the two would be battling it out on had a jagged surface with the odd rock or two poking out of the ground. On the side line sat a lone girl. She didn't know why she felt nervous, but it seemed to be a mutual thing shared between her and Ash. Whenever one was nervous, the other would be, whenever one was happy, the other was too.

"This is a battle between Gym Leader Flint and challenger Ash from Pallet Town. His is a five-on-five battle, only the challenger is allowed to switch pokemon. May the trainers send out their first pokemon." The referee announced.

"Go Graveler!" Flint said, tossing out a pokeball to reveal a pokemon shaped like a bipedal boulder.

"Heracross, I choose you!" Ash exclaimed, tossing out a pokeball to reveal the single horn pokemon.

"Ash, the challenger shall get first move. Let the battle begin!" The referee shouted, raising the flag.

"Alright, Heracross, let's start this with a Focus Punch!" The bug pokemon's beak glowed white as he lunged towards Graveler with the super effective move.

"Graveler, Defence Curl and take the hit!"

As the Focus Punch connected with Graveler, it was obvious that the attack had hit hard, but miraculously the Graveler was still standing. As Heracross moved back, Flint took his chance.

"Graveler, hit it with a Rock Blast!"

"Heracross, try to dodge as many as you can."

The rock pokemon sent the attack flying in several directions as Heracross tried its best to evade the attacks but was still hit by one or two which he shook off easily.

"Now use Stealth Rock!" Graveler fired beams of light at the ground near Ash, which materialised into huge slabs of rock.

Ash smacked his own head. How did he not see this one coming? He knew he needed to be more weary of changing pokemon as the stealth rock would cause damage to pokemon called into battle.

"Alright Heracross, time to finish this with a Horn Attack!"

The pokemon immediately rammed its horn as hard as it could into its opponent. Graveler, giving a shout of defeat, collapsed. The focus punch had really done a lot of damage, but it managed to hold on long enough to lay down the vital stealth rocks.

"Graveler is unable to battle! The victor is Heracross. Will the challenger change pokemon?"

_If I change the pokemon, it would be weakened a considerable amount by the stealth rocks._ "But then again, I don't know what pokemon he'll send next…" He mumbled.

"Will the challenger change his Pokemon?" The referee asked again.

"Heracross, are you up for battling another?" Ash questioned, to which he got an enthusiastic yes.

"Pika pika!" The rodent standing by his trainer said in encouragement.

"Alright, go Omastar!"

"Oh dear," Dawn said from the sideline, "Omastar can use water attacks which are super effective against bug types like Heracross, so Ash better be careful. I hope he knows what he's doing."

"Bun, bun!"

"Lup!"

The two small pokemon were once again dressed in their cheerleading outfits, cheering Ash and his pokemon on. Dawn had decided against wearing it this time, despite the constant nagging from Piplup.

"Heracross, use Megahorn!"

"Omastar meet it head on with Giga Impact!"

The two pokemon moved closer to each other, one with their horn glowing green while the other was a purple-yellow colour. They met in the centre of the battlefield, producing an explosion which flung dirt and dust into the air. Heracross skidded away from the epicentre of the attack due to the strength of the impact, while Omastar landed opposite it.

"Alright, they just used Giga Impact which means they need to rest before using any other moves. Heracross hit it with a Hyper Beam!"

The Single Horn pokemon charged the powerful yellow beam, gathering it at a point in its mouth.

"Now Heracross!"

"Omastar, protect immediately!"

A split second before the Hyper Beam struck home, a green protective shield was erected around the spiral Pokemon, shielding it from the attack, making Ash sware in anger.

"This is our chance, use constrict!"

Omastar hit the ground with its tentacles after doing a flip in mid-air, and vines began to form across Heracross's body, who was unable to dodge due to the effect of Hyper Beam.

"Okay, now use Megahorn again!"

The single horn Pokemon charged at Omastar once again, with its horn glowing. However, due to the effects of constrict Heracross' movements were a lot slower now.

Flint smirked, "Omastar, meet it head on with a Hydro Pump!"

"Quick, Heracross, dodge!"

Unfortunately for Heracross, his momentum kept him going forwards and straight into the incoming Hydro Pump which blasted him across the arena.

"Heracross is unable to battle, that means the winner is Omastar!"

"Good job Heracross, return." Ash said, holding out his Pokeball, "Take a nice rest. You up for doing some battling buddy?" he asked the yellow rodent next to him, who responded with an enthusiastic 'Pika!' and ran onto the battlefield. As it did so, the Stealth Rock placed earlier did its work, with several big slabs of rock smashing into Pikachu, who was weak to rock type attacks.

"Very clever, using an electric type to counter the water part of Omastar eh? Omastar, give that Pikachu a taste of your Spike Cannon!"

"Dodge it!"

As the fossil pokemon unleashed several spikes towards Pikachu, the small mouse managed to jump out of the way just in time.

"Great work! Now let's hit them with a Quick Attack."

"A normal type attack? That won't do much damage so take the hit Omastar and then hit Pikachu with a rollout."

Pikachu was enveloped in a flash of light as it ran at its foe with amazing speed, while Omastar braced for the attack and was preparing for one if its own. Just before he made contact, the yellow rodent jumped into the air catching both Omastar and Flint off guard.

"Alright! Now hit it with a thunderbolt!"

As Pikachu unleashed its signature move in a torrent of yellow electricity, Omastar roared out in pain – it's water type half didn't like that at all.

"Wow, Ash really has grown so much as a trainer." Dawn commented from the sideline, "That move that Pikachu pulled off there was so well thought out and executed, they must have been planning that one in for a long time."

"Right, and Ash didn't even have to tell Pikachu to jump – it looks like Ash has taught Pikachu how to judge by himself – giving him that extra edge in battle." A voice said from behind her.

"Brock! Great to see you again! Are you here to watch the battle too?"

The squinty-eyed breeder nodded, "It's been a while since I've seen Ash battle, so I figured what better place to see him battle than at my old gym?"

"Oh yeah, you used to be the Gym leader here, before you met Ash right?" The coordinator questioned.

"Right. By the way Dawn how's the coordinating been going? I hear you've worked quite a reputation, winning all those Grand Festivals at such a young age."

The girl waved it off, "Oh please, I'm just following my dreams. The media sometimes gets kinda annoying though."

Brock laughed, "Haha, yeah I can imagine, but we really need to get back into the battle now."

Dawn's blue eyes widened, "Oh god! I totally forgot about it!"

In the time of Dawn and Brock's pleasant chat, Ash's Pikachu managed to knock out Flint's Omastar with a well-timed Volt Tackle, Flint had returned the favour by knocking out Ash's Noctowl with his Rhyhorn which managed to take out krookodile aswell was again knocked out by a Rock Smash from Gibble.

"Rhyhorn is unable to battle, that means the winner is Gibble. Will the challenger change pokemon?"

"Alright, Gibble, return. Infernape, I choose you!" Ash said, tossing out another pokeball to reveal a monkey with the top part of his head replaced by a roaring fire.

"Infernape!"

"Fire type eh? Kabutops, I choose you! Use Ice Beam."

The shellfish pokemon launched a white beam at Infernape, who dodged the attack with ease.

"Infernape use Mach Punch!"

"Kabutops, counter with Night Slash."

The flame Pokemon's right hand began to glow white as it ran forwards, as Kabutops' pincer glowed purple. The two attacks met at the centre of the battlefield, pushing both Pokemon back with the force of the attack. Both pokemon took the hits hard, but it took more of a toll on Kabutops as it was hit by a fighting type move which are super effective.

"Alright Kabutops let's finish this with Aqua Jet!"

"Infernape, meet it head on with Flare Blitz!"

One covered itself with a huge column of water and the other with a huge ball of fire. As blue and red came to each other at an amazing pace, they collided mid-air, each fighting for dominance. After a brief engagement, both Pokemon became enveloped in the smoke and steam coming from the fight, as a huge explosion took place.

"How is that possible…" Flint muttered in amazement as Kabutops' Aqua Jet ended up getting beaten back by a fire attack and got knocked out.

"Kabutops is unable to battle, which means Infernape is the winner!"

"Alright, great job Infernape! You beat back that Aqua Jet even though you were at a type disadvantage."

"Infernape!" He exclaimed. The flame Pokemon didn't escape unscathed either. It was obvious that the water attack took its toll.

"Return, take a well-deserved rest," Ash said, before pulling out another Pokeball.

"Well well Ash, you seem to have whittled me down to my last Pokemon." Flint said with a smile, "But don't be fooled by your lead so far. Go Onix, show them true power!"

Ash returned the smile, "Well, looks like I'll fight fire with fire. Charizard, light up the skies!" He said, as the huge red dragon materialised before him, giving an almighty roar, before being hit once again by the stealth rock. "You can have first move." The raven-haired trainer gestured towards the gym leader.

"Alright, let's start things off with an earthquake!"

The rock snake pokemon gave a nod in agreement before slamming its tail against the ground, causing a massive earthquake to ripple through the gym, knocking Charizard off his feet.

"Are you okay buddy?" Ash asked in worry as the huge fire type lifted itself off the ground after being hit by that super effective attack.

"Char!"

"Onix, hit that Charizard with a Rock Tomb!"

"Quick, take to the skies!"

Just as the rock tomb was about to hit, Charizard launched itself into the air, avoiding the attack.

"Alright now it's our turn. Charizard use Flamethrower!"

"Protect Onix!"

Charizard flew above its foe and unleashed a potent flamethrower which enveloped Onix. However, as the fire and smoke cleared, it revealed the stone snake pokemon unscathed, with a protective green barrier around him.

"Onix try and shoot it down with Stone Edge!"

"Charizard, dodge quick!"

Onix launched half a dozen rocks at Charizard, who took note of Ash's command too late and was hence struck down by the once again super effective attack and plummeted down into the arena.

"Oh no, Charizard!" Ash exclaimed – it really looked like Charizard was going to faint any second.

"Go on Ash! You can do it, I believe in you!" Dawn's voice called out, making the trainer turn around, to see her smiling at him, "Just remember to use your brain as well as your instinct."

Somehow, the coordinator's words gave confidence to both Ash and Charizard, who stood up once again ready for battle.

"Onix, finish it off with a Slam!"

"Charizard, dodge!"

As the Onix closed in, with its tail raised high, Ash paused as Dawn's words rang out in his head. _Remember to use your brain as well as your instinct. Think, Ash think! Onix is a rock type so must be weak to fighting type moves, right? Great! I'm using my brain! _"Charizard, don't dodge the attack!"

The fire type turned around and stared at his trainer incredulously . Didn't Ash know that one more hit and Charizard would go down? "Trust me, okay? And get ready to grab any part of Onix's body."

The Onix raised its tail and brought it down upon Charizard, "NOW!"

**Finished! I hope you guys like the battle chapters – they certainly take the longest to write. If you have any suggestions at improvements, please let me know via PM or review.**

**For the point I mentioned at the beginning of the chapter, please, please give me your feedback, I really need you guys on this one!**

**So, will Ash get his next gym badge? What's he planning? Will it succeed? Find out next time!**

**DreamCrafter out!**


	17. Note

Author's Note

**Hey guys!**

**Sorry about this author's note, I hate writing these but I'd hate even more to leave you guys in the dark.**

**You may have noticed that I haven't updated this story in quite a while, but I am working on a few new chapters but they won't be done in quite some time.**

**Instead, I am working on chapters for a new story, called 'Shadow In the Storm'. I don't think there's another story like that on here and it's really quite different. I'd really appreciate it if you check it out and drop a review to tell me how it's going – I'll be focusing most of my spare time on writing that story instead of this one.**

**If you guys haven't read it already, please do! Here's the link to the story:**

s/9050879/1/Shadow-In-the-Storm

**( paste it behind fanfiction dot net)**

**Don't worry! I won't be putting this in haitus, just updating it very sporadically.**

**Also, I'm in the process of writing a oneshot, but I'm not sure what ship it's going to be yet, so please leave me your suggestions! Currently, I think Pearlshipping is the most popular.**

**I should have a new chapter up for this in one or two weeks… I'm preparing for some GCSE coursework so that's why I haven't really been updating.**

**See you guys soon! (either on this story or some other haha)**

**~DreamCrafter**


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